Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that 30 more people have been indicted for allegedly taking part in an anti-immigration enforcement protest at a Minnesota church.

In a social media post Friday, Bondi said 25 people had been arrested with more arrests to come later in the day.

“YOU CANNOT ATTACK A HOUSE OF WORSHIP. If you do so, you cannot hide from us — we will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you,” she wrote in the post. “This Department of Justice STANDS for Christians and all Americans of faith.”

Others arrested include independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, and prominent local activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, who was the subject of a doctored photo posted by the White House showing her crying during her arrest. They have pleaded not guilty to civil rights charges.

In total, 39 people have been charged over the church protest and all are charged with conspiracy against religious freedom and interfering with the right of religious freedom.

Protesters descended on Cities Church in St. Paul on Jan. 18 after learning that one of the church’s pastors also serves as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official.

Also noted in documents were text messages from a correspondent to Levy Armstrong. The correspondent was Matt Sepic from MPR News, who reached out to Levy Armstrong while gathering information for a story. 

Sepic’s Google search of David Easterwood's name revealed that the ICE official, who testified in a recent lawsuit, is a pastor at Cities Church. Sepic asked Levy Armstrong, an ordained minister, via text if she was aware of the connection. She said she was not.

The protest drew swift condemnation from Trump administration officials and conservative leaders for disrupting a Sunday service.

The church protest came amid a tense couple months for Minnesota, where the Trump administration sent thousands of federal officers for Operation Metro Surge after a series of government fraud cases where the majority of defendants had Somali roots. Federal officers frequently deployed tear gas for crowd control in neighborhood clashes with activists, often detaining them along with immigrants.

On Jan. 7, a federal officer shot and killed 37-year-old mother Renee Good in south Minneapolis. In another fatal shooting one week after the church protest, a federal officer killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti.

Nationwide demonstrations erupted in response, followed by a change in Operation Metro Surge’s leadership and the eventual wind-down of the immigration enforcement operation in mid-February.

Since then, the Twin Cities have grappled with the impact to communities and the local economy. The city of Minneapolis said it suffered an impact of $203.1 million due to the operation, with tens of thousands of residents in need of urgent relief assistance.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi says federal prosecutors have indicted 30 more people tied to a protest at a Minnesota church over an immigration enforcement crackdown. Bondi says 25 of those people are already under arrest. 

Attorney general announces indictments against 30 more people who protested at a Minnesota church

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