A mob of anti-ICE agitators stormed Cities Church in St. Paul during a Sunday service, shouting down worshippers and forcing the service to end early. Video from the scene shows protesters chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good” as parishioners were interrupted mid-prayer, a grotesque escalation that tramples on basic decency. This was not protest — it was an invasion of sacred space and a deliberate attempt to intimidate practicing Christians inside their own sanctuary.
Reports indicate the protesters were targeting a pastor whose name appears to match the acting director of ICE’s St. Paul field office, and tensions were already high after a recent ICE operation that included the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good. What began as law-enforcement activity turned into a political feeding frenzy, and radical organizers seized the moment to stage a theatrical confrontation inside a house of worship. Churchgoers deserve protection from mob tactics, regardless of the political theater playing outside courthouse steps.
The Department of Justice has rightly opened an investigation into potential violations of the FACE Act for interfering with religious worship, and federal authorities must use every tool at their disposal to hold trespassers accountable. Laws on the books exist to prevent precisely this kind of intimidation, and failing to enforce them signals weakness that emboldens more extremism. If the Justice Department wavers, it will send a message that churches and synagogues are open season for political stunts.
Prominent Christian leaders from across the country condemned the disruption as an unacceptable violation of religious liberty, and their outrage is justified. Clergy and faith communities should not have to brace for ambushes while they gather to worship, and public officials who shrug at these attacks are failing in their duty to protect congregations. The moral clarity of condemning an assault on worship should cut across political lines, yet too many in the media and on the left rush to rationalize the chaos.
Meanwhile, local leaders and some outlets have either downplayed the intrusion or tried to paint it as a spontaneous outpouring of grief, which is a convenient excuse for those unwilling to call out lawlessness. When elected officials normalize mob pressure and public figures livestream the spectacle, they fuel a culture where intimidation becomes an acceptable tactic. There must be consequences for those who think disrupting a service is a legitimate form of protest; otherwise the rule of law and the right to worship will keep losing ground.
This episode is a wake-up call that the erosion of respect for institutions has consequences that touch every corner of civic life. Protecting religious liberty, supporting law enforcement when they enforce the law, and refusing to let political violence become performance are not partisan positions — they are the foundations of a free society. Americans who care about order and liberty should demand accountability, enforcement, and a restoration of the basic civility that once made our public square tolerable.
