...holy shit, there's an ICE thug at the pulpit.
Earlier this week a reader prevailed upon me for some assistance deconstructing a video his "independent" friend had sent him. The subject was the ICE protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota on Sunday, January 18, 2026. In it, a smarmy git named Rispo (link here if you're interested) took it upon himself to explain the First Amendment to us po' dumb Liberals with all the exaggerated exasperation he could summon. He then made the completely predictable leap from one protest on one day in one place...to this is just how all of these stupid Liberals dupes. The idea that the Left would dare conflate the noble heroes of ICE with fascism? With tyranny? It out Herods Herod!
Real MAGA fainting couch stuff.
So I thought about it for a minute, and the following is about 35% my original reply and 65% stuff I added in for texture, context and mouth-feel.
To start with, there are 3,500 to 3,600 houses of worship in the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. This includes churches of all denominations, mosques, temples and synagogues, so why did the protesters choose this one?
Simple. The pastor. From Newsweek:
Who Is David Easterwood? Protesters Say Pastor Is ICE Official
David Easterwood, who leads the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in St. Paul, also apparently serves as a pastor at a church that was disrupted by protesters on Sunday.
Dozens of protesters entered the Cities Church in St. Paul during a service, with some chanting "ICE out" and "Justice for Renee Good"—the woman an ICE agent fatally shot in Minneapolis on January 7.
I would imagine the galling duplicity of the shepherd of the flock being in the pay of the wolves presented an irresistible opportunity for protestors to underscore the deeply anti-Christian hypocrisy of MAGA Republicans.
Second, are you familiar with the idea of "nutpicking"? Friend of the blog Matthew Sheffield taught me that term. Nutpicking is a tactic in which you try to present one extreme example as representative of an entire ideology or belief system, which is exactly what the git in the video is doing. Leaping from one protest on one day in one church involving a handful of protestors, to "This is how the Left..." blah blah blah. These are the logical fallacies of non sequitur, a straw man argument and threat inflation all rolled into one.
Third, this guy eyerolling the idea that "these people" conflate ICE with fascists automatically negates any judgement he wants to pass on anything. The ICE goons are fascists, as is the administration that rolled them out to terrorize the citizens of Minneapolis. The fact that he doesn't believe this flags him as a bad faith operator.
Fourth, yes, in this one case, protestors were infringing on the first amendment rights of the parishioners. So what? No one was hurt. No one was shot. It's called civil disobedience, which has a long and storied history. In this case it was motivated by the fact that the pastor of the church is also an ICE agent. Maybe the parishioners learned something they didn't know.
Fifth, if MAGA explainer git is so damn concerned about disrupting worship services, take a look at the effect ICE goons prowling around primarily Hispanic churches in Chicago had on church attendance and the level of fear and intimidation among parishioners.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
Clergy sue feds over restriction on providing religious services to immigrants held at Broadview ICE facility
The group has attempted to provide communion for detainees at the facility but were denied, with officials citing “safety and security concerns,” according to the lawsuit. The group is suing the government, arguing the denial is a violation of the First Amendment.
The Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security used “shifting, contradictory, and often opaque communication” to deny clergy the ability to pray with detainees at the ICE facility in Broadview, including late immigrant activists Sister Pat Murphy and Sister JoAnn Persch.
The group attempted to provide communion for detainees at the facility in October as well as earlier this month but were denied both times, with officials citing “safety and security concerns,” according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court. The group accuses the government of violating federal law as well as the First Amendment rights of religious officials and detainees.
“A non-specific reference to safety and security is not sufficient to deny the rights of Catholic clergy and laypersons, or persons of any other denomination or religion, to practice their faith, especially as others have been allowed to do so at the ICE facility in Broadview since it became an immigration-related facility in 2006,” the lawsuit states. “The United States has a long history of accommodating such religious freedom and practice inside of prisons and jails, and there is no reason to deny them altogether at Broadview, where the vast majority of detainees have no criminal records.”
ICE agents wielding guns tried to intimidate my church. We will not bow in fear.When ICE agents descend on our neighborhoods, when fear spreads like wildfire, people of faith must be the living water that quenches it.
As a pastor, I consider the church not just a place of worship, but a sacred home − somewhere families gather to find comfort, courage and communion. For generations, our pews have held the laughter of children, the tears of grief and joy, and the prayers of the faithful.
Last month, the sanctity of our space was shattered.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered the parking lot of Downey Memorial Christian Church to take a man who was walking through our property. The agents were armed, masked and aggressive.
They tried to intimidate clergy and staff − people whose only armor is their faith and moral convictions. In that moment, our sacred space became a site of state-sanctioned fear and violence.
DHS authorized ICE to harass and intimidate churchgoers from Day 1 of this administration. It has come to churches to make arrests and stage operations. There is nothing sacred to these people.
Chicago’s faith leaders have been among the most salient groups voicing opposition to federal immigration enforcement efforts.
The Coalition for Spiritual Leadership, a Chicago-based Catholic and Christian community organization, led several gatherings at the Broadview ICE Detention Center, where clergy sought to provide religious services to people detained inside.
Notably, the Rev. David Black, senior pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, was struck multiple times with pepper balls by ICE agents while protesting outside Broadview.
Away from Broadview, ICE’s presence led some Latino parishioners to stop attending mass, according to the Rev. Juan Vargas, priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish.
“The (attendance) numbers have been lower but still strong,” Vargas said. “We would see 50 or 70 depending on any ICE activity in the area, which would cause a little bit of extra fear.”
Vargas added that some parishioners who typically attend the Spanish mass have opted to join the English mass.
“To them they feel a little bit more comfortable thinking there’s less of a risk,” Vargas said.
During mass, the parish’s ushers scope out the surrounding neighborhood for any signs of ICE, Vargas said.
For parishioners who opt to stay home altogether, Vargas has adopted a “reach-out” policy.
“The big push has been — reach out,” Vargas said. “If you have not heard from someone or miss someone, reach out to your neighbor, give them a knock to make sure they’re doing well.”
Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, memo says
A woman who led an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church has been arrested, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday.Bondi announced the arrest of Nekima Levy Armstrong in a post on X days after protesters during Sunday service entered the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as a pastor.
The Justice Department quickly opened a civil rights investigation after the group interrupted services by chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier this month. Bondi
“Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” the attorney general wrote on X...
Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and prominent local activist, had called for the pastor affiliated with ICE to resign, saying his dual role poses a “fundamental moral conflict.”
"It was not immediately clear what charge or charges Levy Armstrong faces. Justice Department officials have said in recent days they were considering charging the protesters under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act."
The FACE Act prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services or seeking to participate in a service at a house of worship.
The Trump administration has criticized the Biden administration for using the FACE Act to prosecute people for blocking access to abortion clinics and reproductive health centers, calling the cases an example of the “weaponization” of law enforcement.
The Justice Department’s swift investigation into the church disruption stands in contrast to its decision not to open a civil rights investigation into Good’s killing by an ICE officer. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week there is “no basis” at this time for a civil rights investigation into her death.
Administration officials have said the officer acted in self-defense and that the driver of the Honda was engaging in “an act of domestic terrorism” when she pulled forward toward him. But the decision not to have the department’s Civil Rights Division investigate marked a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials.
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