On a recent Sunday morning, roughly 30 activists burst into Cities Church in St. Paul and interrupted worship with chants of “ICE out” and “Hands up, don’t shoot,” creating a spectacle that belongs in a radical political rally, not a house of God. Videos and eyewitness accounts show the protesters pressing into the sanctuary and forcing the service to an abrupt and shameful halt, trampling on the First Amendment freedoms of the congregation in the name of spectacle.
The demonstrators said they came to confront a pastor they allege doubles as an acting ICE field office director in Minnesota — a claim that local reporting says connects the pastor’s name with ICE filings — though that pastor was not present at the service. Angry mobs seeking to out political opponents in their pews is how lawlessness spreads; Americans should be alarmed that activists think churches are fair game for targeted harassment.
Federal authorities have rightly opened an investigation into the incident, with the Justice Department weighing potential federal civil rights and FACE Act violations for disrupting worship. When protesters cross the line from speech to trespass and intimidation inside a house of worship, it is not activism — it is criminal interference that deserves full legal accountability.
Christian leaders across the country have spoken up, calling the disruption “shameful” and demanding protection for religious liberty, correctly framing this as an attack on the sacred right of Americans to gather without fear of political intimidation. Pastors and ministry leaders are not partisan props to be stalked by mobs; they are shepherds of their flocks, and the rule of law should shield congregations from intimidation.
Some on the Left insist that the ends justify the means because they point to controversial ICE operations and the tragic death of Renee Good, which has inflamed passions in the Twin Cities community. Justice for anyone harmed by federal action must be pursued through courts and oversight, not through mobs that storm churches and try to bully worshippers into silence; chaos is not justice and theater is not due process.
This episode is symptomatic of a broader, dangerous reflex among progressives to weaponize protest and demonize law enforcement and faith communities alike. Conservatives should stand unflinchingly for the protection of religious liberty, for the enforcement of law against unlawful disruption, and for civil, lawful channels for reform — because a society that tolerates mob intimidation of churches is a society on the road to anarchy.
