30 more charged in anti-ICE protest at Minnesota church, DOJ says - USA Today
Thirty additional individuals have been charged in connection with an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a church service in Minneapolis in January, with federal authorities arresting 25 of them. The protest at Cities Church was in response to the death of Renee Good and involved accusations of conspiring against religious freedom, with some participants, including journalist Don Lemon, asserting their actions were protected by free speech laws. The DOJ is investigating the incident under the FACE Act, which safeguards access to places of worship and prohibits interference while allowing peaceful demonstrations.
The indictment, unsealed by the DOJ on Feb. 27, alleges the 30 defendants took part in "an attack" at the St. Paul house of worship in January, Bondi wrote in a post on X.
Bondi did not identify the newly indicted defendants or specify the charges against them.
At least nine other people, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon, were arrested in January in connection with the demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul. Lemon has said he was covering the protest a journalist and denied any wrongdoing.
Federal agents have arrested 25 of those named in the newly unsealed indictment, "with more to come throughout the day," Bondi said.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Justice Department for more information.
What happened at Cities Church?
A group of protesters entered the church Jan. 18, claiming Pastor David Easterwood works as the acting director for the St. Paul Field Office of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The protest took place in the wake of the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old American woman killed by a federal immigration officer on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis.
The Justice Department previously said it was investigating the protest as a potential violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994, which protects access to religious worship under the First Amendment.
The law prohibits “intentionally injuring, intimidating or interfering with” a person attempting to seek or provide services at a reproductive health facility or place of worship. However, the statute specifies the act should not be used to prohibit any expressive conduct including peaceful picketing or peaceful demonstration.
In addition to Lemon, at least eight other people have been arrested in connection to the protest: Chauntyll Louisa Allen, William Kelly, Nekima Levy Armstrong, Georgia Fort, Trahern Jeen Crews, Jamael Lydell Lundy, Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson.
The nine defendants face charges of conspiring against the rights of religious freedom at a place of worship and injuring, interfering and intimidating with exercising the rights of religious freedom of worship, according to a 14-page grand jury indictment obtained by USA TODAY.
"Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done," his lawyer wrote.
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