Nekima Levy Armstrong, the Minnesota civil rights advocate who helped organize a protest at a church in St. Paul on Sunday, has been arrested by federal agents, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday on social media.
“Minutes ago at my direction, [Homeland Security and FBI] agents executed an arrest in Minnesota,” Bondi posted on X around 9:30 a.m. ET. “So far, we have arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.”
Less than 30 minutes later, Bondi announced a second arrest in connection with the demonstration.
“Chauntyll Louisa Allen has been taken into custody,” the attorney general wrote. “We will protect our houses of worship,” she added in all caps.
Levy Armstrong, a Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney and the founder of the Racial Justice Network, was one of four Black women activists who led the demonstration.
“We participated in the first part of the service, and the pastor prayed during the service,” Levy Armstrong said Wednesday, speaking with Democracy Now via livestream from an undisclosed location. In his prayer, that pastor asked God to “help us to get our house in order,” she recalled.
After he finished praying, Levy Armstrong — who’s also an ordained minister and preacher — stood up and questioned the pastor about another church leader allegedly leading the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, overseeing operations that have involved violent tactics and illegal arrests.
“Help me understand how David Easterwood is a pastor here and also a director of ICE in St. Paul,” she said, recounting the interaction to Democracy Now host Amy Goodman. “As soon as I mentioned David Easterwood’s name, the pastor yelled, ‘Shame, shame,’ over the microphone.”
Several protestors also interrupted the service, chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis earlier this month.
“You cannot lead a congregation while directing an agency whose actions have cost lives and inflicted fear in our communities,” Levy Armstrong said Tuesday, urging Easterwood to resign. “When officials protect armed agents, repeatedly refuse meaningful investigation into killings like Renee Good’s, and signal they may pursue peaceful protesters and journalists, that is not justice — it is intimidation.”
Allen, one of the other activists arrested for allegedly helping mobilize protesters, is an elected member of the St. Paul School Board and one of the founders of Black Lives Matter St. Paul.
The longtime front-line community organizer and educator is also the founder of Love First Community Engagement, a racial justice and youth empowerment organization, and previously served as the director of criminal justice and activism at the Wayfinder Foundation.
Federal authorities claim the protest is a potential violation of the FACE Act (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act), which is usually used to protect entrances to abortion clinics.
Early Thursday afternoon, Homeland Security shared a video of Allen, with her hands behind her back, being arrested by several law enforcement agents, whose faces are pixelated or turned away from the camera.
Chauntyll Louisa Allen has been charged with conspiracy to deprive rights for her role in the St. Paul church riots. pic.twitter.com/DwTJxB3tW7
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 22, 2026
“Chauntyll Louisa Allen has been charged with conspiracy to deprive rights for her role in the St. Paul church riots,” the agency wrote on X.
Earlier on Thursday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem posted a photo of Levy Armstrong, also with her arms behind her back, being led by a law enforcement agent.
She’s facing a federal charge of conspiracy against rights, which makes it illegal to threaten or intimidate someone exercising their civil rights.
“Religious freedom is the bedrock of the United States — there is no first amendment right to obstruct someone from practicing their religion,” Noem said.