Leaders of a local Black Lives Matter coalition in Minnesota have acknowledged organizing the disruption of services at a Minneapolis-area Christian church on Sunday as part of a broader protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and are now defending the occupation-style demonstration amid a federal investigation into their tactics.
Over the weekend, dozens of anti-ICE activists stormed Cities Church, a Christian church in St. Paul, on suspicion that one of its pastors is an ICE official.
The incident, which shut down Cities Church’s Sunday sermon, comes as agitators across the Twin Cities accost anyone they believe to be immigration agents, associates, or simply supporters of ICE in response to the ICE-involved shooting of Renee Good.
Black Lives Matter Minnesota, one of the organizers, livestreamed the activist takeover of Cities Church, captioning the 40-minute footage, “Up with Christ and down with ICE.”
BLM Minnesota’s viral video captured an angry mob barging in during the church service and demanding to know the whereabouts of Pastor David Easterwood. A man with the same name serves as ICE’s acting director for the agency’s field office in St.
