Staff Reports
Left-wing rioters who barged into a Sunday service at Cities Church in St. Paul and tried to intimidate worshippers have finally been taken into custody by federal agents, a welcome bit of law-and-order news after weeks of radical mobs treating private institutions like political stages. Officials identified the arrested as civil-rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, school board member Chauntyll Louisa Allen, and activist William Kelly, who organizers say helped lead the disruption. The outrage was predictable: a politically motivated ambush on a house of worship carried out in the name of grievance politics, and the government moved to hold them accountable.
The protesters were chanting “ICE out” and demanding “Justice for Renee Good” as they confronted congregants and a pastor who also works for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a fact that does not excuse storming a service or threatening the free exercise of religion. The Department of Justice opened a civil-rights inquiry, and Attorney General Pam Bondi publicly condemned the attack, rightly making clear that places of worship are not political playgrounds for the mob. This is what happens when radical activists elevate spectacle over respect for human dignity and the rule of law.
Federal prosecutors say the arrests stem from a coordinated effort to interfere with constitutional rights and to intimidate worshippers and officials, allegations that deserve thorough prosecution rather than the usual press tantrum of excuses. Meanwhile a judge rejected related charges against journalist Don Lemon for merely recording the events, a reminder that the First Amendment protects reporting even when media figures make poor choices about who they platform. But there is a clear difference between documenting an event and leading a violent, targeted interruption of religious services — and the law must treat those differences seriously.
Conservative Americans should be unapologetic in defending churches and law enforcement against the useful idiots of the Left who think harassment and intimidation are legitimate forms of political speech. The same coastal media elites who cheered on street chaos for years are suddenly shocked when their allies cross the line into Scripture-desecrating mob rule. The swift federal response shows that the current administration, unlike previous ones, is willing to protect religious liberty and punish those who weaponize identity politics to terrorize ordinary citizens.
It’s also worth noting the hypocrisy when a local school board member, entrusted with shaping young minds, trades that responsibility for cynical activism and ends up under arrest. Communities deserve leaders who respect institutions — families, schools, and churches — not actors who abuse their positions for headline-grabbing stunts. If the left wants to win hearts, they’ll have to stop assaulting worship services and start engaging in honest debate instead of mob theater.
This episode should be a wake-up call to every patriot who cares about religious freedom and public order: tolerate no double standard where mobs are forgiven and peaceful Americans are made to pay. Hold the organizers accountable, protect pastors who hold lawful jobs in public service, and stop pretending that criminal disruptions of worship are anything other than assaults on our way of life. Law and faith deserve defenders, and today federal agents did what local virtue-signaling politicians would not.
