adminSunday’s scenes from Cities Church in St. Paul were sickening — a mob of anti-ICE agitators burst into worship and interrupted a service, chanting and harassing parishioners while cameras rolled. What should have been a sanctuary for prayer instead became a staged spectacle for political radicals who think intimidation is patriotism.
The crowd claimed one of the church’s pastors was also an ICE official, pointing to a David Easterwood listed in federal records and treating that as permission to invade a house of worship. Whether every detail of the protesters’ claims is ironclad matters less to them than the opportunity to shame and disrupt; the Associated Press has reported the overlap in names that sparked the confrontation.
The Justice Department has rightly opened an investigation into potential violations of federal law protecting religious exercise, and conservatives should demand the full force of the law be applied to anyone who storms a church. Federal civil-rights statutes exist for a reason — to stop coercive mobs from replacing civility and the rule of law — and prosecutors must not let this go unpunished.
Let’s be clear about what lit the fuse: the unrest across Minneapolis followed the tragic shooting of Renee Good during an ICE operation, an event that inflames passions and fuels opportunists on both sides of the aisle. Even as Americans grieve and seek answers, that does not justify targeting worshippers or assaulting federal officers; ICE says arrests have been made in connection with some confrontations.
Washington is not blind to the escalation; the Pentagon has placed roughly 1,500 soldiers on standby as a contingency to restore order if local leaders refuse to protect citizens and federal personnel. If Minneapolis officials choose to coddle chaos instead of clamping down on violent agitators, the federal government must be prepared to act to defend law-abiding communities and the institutions that sustain them.
Hardworking Americans — churchgoers, veterans, and parents — are fed up with elites who enable mob tactics while lecturing the rest of us about morality. It’s time to defend our houses of worship, back the men and women enforcing the law, and demand accountability from anyone who thinks criminal intimidation is a substitute for civic discourse. Our republic and our faith communities deserve nothing less.
