The FBI has arrested two Black women activists connected to a church protest against ICE in Minneapolis, resulting in the city’s mayor demanding their release and blasting the arrests as a “gross abuse of power.”
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrests of Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Allen on X, writing, “WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP” and “WE WILL PROTECT OUR HOUSES OF WORSHIP.”
“The federal government is picking and choosing who to investigate – going after protestors and not the person who shot and killed one of our neighbors,” said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, referring to the fatal Jan. 7 ICE shooting of Renee Good, in reacting to the initial news of Armstrong’s arrest. “I am calling for Nekima to be released immediately.”
The arrests relate to a demonstration that took place on Sunday, Jan. 18, inside Cities Church in St. Paul—one of the Twin Cities, along with Minneapolis—where protesters spoke out against its pastor, who is alleged to be an ICE field director. Much of the peaceful protest, in which participants chanted “Justice for Renee Good” and “ICE out,” was caught on video.
Trump administration officials immediately condemned the protests, suggesting that the protesters had broken the law. The U.S. Department of Justice has not indicated what crimes Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP, and Allen, a member of the St. Paul Board of Education, allegedly committed.
The DOJ also sought to bring charges against journalist Don Lemon, who reported live on the scene during Sunday’s church protest against ICE. However, a judge rejected the administration’s request for an arrest warrant, reports CNN.
“DOJ must face consequences for its harassment of protesters and journalists alike. The recent targeted arrests of Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen are similarly suspect. DOJ is not above the law and our courts are critical to curbing these abuses,” said Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
During an interview on CNN, Armstrong, the lead organizer of the church protest, dismissed the suggestion that she and other protesters broke any laws and slammed the Trump administration for its hypocrisy and for continuously using the federal government to go after its political enemies.
“They are trying to turn a peaceful, nonviolent demonstration into a crime,” said Armstrong. “How is it that they can investigate our governor, our mayor, James Comey…and so many others, but they won’t investigate Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who brutally killed Renee Good, a wife and mother on January 7 of 2026? That’s the question that America should be asking.”
The attorney and activist also disputed the narrative pushed by the Trump administration and political right that protesters stormed the church in the middle of service, explaining that they actually sat peacefully and participated in the Sunday gathering.
“After the pastor prayed, that is when I stood up and asked him a question in response to his prayer…he responded to me, and then I proceeded to ask him about Pastor David Easterwood, and how is it possible for him to serve as both a pastor and the director of ICE for Minnesota. And instead of responding to me, as soon as I said the name David Easterwood, the pastor says, ‘Shame, shame,'” Armstrong recalled. “We didn’t rush in. We didn’t bust in. We were a part of the service until I got up and posed that question to the pastor.”
For weeks, Minnesotans have taken to the streets in protest against the Trump administration’s surge of thousands of ICE and federal law enforcement officers targeting the city’s Black and Brown immigrant communities. Things escalated after Good’s shooting, which Trump officials quickly defended without conducting a full investigation. In fact, the government blocked Minnesota state officials from participating in a joint investigation, raising questions about transparency and accountability.
