Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a sharp warning Monday, threatening federal prosecution after protesters disrupted a Sunday church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, escalating tensions between the Trump administration and critics of its immigration enforcement surge.
Bondi said she spoke directly with Jonathan Parnell, the pastor who leads Cities Church, after demonstrators interrupted his sermon and accused another pastor, David Easterwood, of being affiliated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Writing on X, Bondi framed the protest as an attack on both law enforcement and religious freedom.
“Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law,” Bondi wrote. “If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails.”
The disruption comes amid mounting protests in the Twin Cities following the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a U.S. citizen killed earlier this month by an ICE officer. Demonstrations against ICE’s expanded presence have intensified, spilling into public spaces—and now, a church sanctuary.
Easterwood, who protesters singled out during the service, is listed as a pastor on Cities Church’s website. He also appeared alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Minneapolis press conference in October, when he was introduced as the acting director of ICE’s St. Paul Field Office. ICE declined to confirm whether Easterwood currently serves as an officer.
Civil rights attorney and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong told The Minnesota Star Tribune that the situation raises troubling questions. “This man is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, masquerading as a pastor,” she said.
The Justice Department, however, has signaled it will focus its fire on the protesters—not the allegations. DOJ adviser Alina Habba said Monday on Fox & Friends that Bondi would “come down hard” on anyone who disrupts worship or interferes with law enforcement.
“Our Civil Rights Division will come down hard on anybody who tries to impede or intimidate somebody in a place of worship, or a police officer or an ICE officer,” Habba said. “It’s just not going to happen in this administration.”
That message was echoed by Harmeet Dhillon, who said two federal prosecutors were already en route to Minneapolis. Speaking on Newsmax, Dhillon described the incident as a top-tier priority. “There is no more sacred right in our Constitution than the right to assemble and pray to God,” she said, adding that federal laws explicitly protect that right.
The clash has further inflamed an already volatile standoff between the Trump administration and Minnesota’s Democratic leadership. Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have criticized the administration’s immigration crackdown while urging protesters to demonstrate peacefully.
On Friday, the Justice Department issued subpoenas to both Walz and Frey as part of an inquiry into whether local officials are obstructing federal law enforcement. President Trump has gone even further, threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act—a rarely used law that would allow him to deploy the military or federalize the National Guard to quell unrest.
