Protesters from the Racial Justice Network and Black Lives Matter Minnesota stormed a church on Sunday to disrupt the services of a pastor whom they accused of being affiliated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Chants from the mob, calling for ICE to get “out of Minnesota,” drove out congregants attending Cities Church, a Southern Baptist Convention church, in Minneapolis.
Violent rhetoric and attacks against ICE officers have skyrocketed over the past year as President Trump has sought to undo the vast damage from the previous administration’s open border policies, which allowed illegal immigration and crime to flow into the United States virtually unchecked.
The threats against ICE officers accelerated in Minnesota earlier this month after Renee Good was shot by an ICE officer. While the left insisted that the shooting of Good was unjustified, footage of the incident showed the woman drive into the officers, with one agent suffering internal bleeding as a result.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz loudly condemned the shooting; however, many viewed his condemnation as a thinly veiled attempt to draw attention away from the significant corruption scandal plaguing the state.
Widespread protests ensued following the incident, with Democrat officials fueling the outrage and violence. On January 9th, the White House published a list of “57 Times Sick, Unhinged Democrats Declared War on Law Enforcement.”
In Minnesota alone, the White House included several examples of Liberal politicians inciting public hatred against ICE officers:
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz smeared ICE officers as a “threat” to the public, called ICE “reckless,” suggested the state is at “war” with federal officers and “under attack” by ICE, and smeared ICE as the “modern-day Gestapo.” …
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said ICE officers cause “chaos and terror.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey demanded ICE “get the f— out” of the city and accused officers of “terrorizing our communities.”
Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley claimed ICE is carrying out “terrorist attacks.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar said ICE is “state violence,” called officers “vile and beyond cruel,” and stated “[a]bolishing ICE is not enough.”
Sen. Tina Smith called ICE “a clear and present threat.”
The violence was further inflamed when three illegal immigrants in Minnesota waged a chaotic attack on an ICE agent, beating the officer with a broom handle and shovel. One individual, an illegal alien from Venezuela, was shot in the leg during the altercation, with all three attackers being taken into custody.
The targeting of the Baptist church on Sunday represented a new level of anti-ICE escalation, resembling more of a lynch style mob than a protest.
“Agitators aren’t just targeting our officers. Now they’re targeting churches, too,” DHS said in a statement posted to Social Media. “They’re going from hotel to hotel, church to church, hunting for federal law enforcement who are risking their lives to protect Americans. Tim Walz and Jacob Frey are responsible for whipping these mobs into a frenzy and then allowing them to run rampant. We won’t be deterred. ICE isn’t going anywhere.”
Accompanying the agitators was former CNN personality Don Lemon. Though he claimed to be press covering the event, Lemon was actively advocating for the church’s disruption, shrugging off the fear and distress of some young members of the congregation.
“It’s uncomfortable and traumatic for the people here … but that’s what protesting is about,” he stated.
“This is the beginning of what’s going to happen here,” Lemon insisted. “When you violate people’s due process, when you pull people off the street, you start dragging them and hurting them and not abiding by the Constitution – when you start doing all of that, people get upset and angry.”
Lemon further praised the mob’s actions to the church’s lead pastor in an “interview.”
“It’s shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship,” the pastor said in response. “We are here to worship. We are here to worship Jesus because that is the hope of these cities, that’s the hope of the world, is Jesus Christ, okay?”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon decried the anti-ICE demonstration at the church, putting Lemon “on notice” for his participation.
“A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest!” Dhillon asserted. “It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo-journalism of disrupting a prayer service. You are on notice!”
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who leads the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, underscored that the targeting of Churches will not be tolerated.
“I just spoke to the Pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted,” she detailed. “Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law. If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails.”
