Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Thursday morning that the Justice Department arrested two suspects involved in the storming of a Minnesota church service over the weekend by anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters.
The DOJ previously teased federal charges against the people who disrupted Sunday service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier this week. Bondi said in a post on X that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security arrested two people on Thursday morning in connection with the incident, announcing the second arrest roughly 20 minutes after the first one.
Minutes ago at my direction, @HSI_HQ and @FBI agents executed an arrest in Minnesota.
So far, we have arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
We will share more updates as they…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 22, 2026
“So far, we have arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. We will share more updates as they become available,” Bondi said in the initial post. “Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP.”
“A second arrest has been made at my direction. Chauntyll Louisa Allen has been taken into custody,” she said in a subsequent post.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shared an image of Armstrong, a left-wing activist, being arrested by federal law enforcement, adding that Armstrong has been charged with conspiracy against rights.
Homeland Security Investigators and FBI agents arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong who played a key role in orchestrating the Church Riots in St. Paul, Minnesota.
She is being charged with a federal crime under 18 USC 241.
Religious freedom is the bedrock of the United States -… pic.twitter.com/O9yp4nRio1
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) January 22, 2026
Conspiracy against rights is a felony charge which “makes it unlawful for two or more persons to agree to injure, threaten, or intimidate a person in the United States in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States or because of his or her having exercised such a right,” per the Justice Department. The maximum punishment for a conviction of the crime is 10 years in prison.
The charges levied against Allen, who is a leader at Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, were not immediately clear.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon previously hinted at charging those involved in the storming under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which makes it unlawful “to injure, intimidate, or interfere” by using “force, threat of force, or physical obstruction” against anyone who is “exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”
WHAT IS THE FACE ACT? FEDERAL CHARGES FOR MINNESOTA CHURCH PROTEST COULD COME BY SUNDAY
The FACE Act was commonly used by the Biden administration against anti-abortion protesters outside abortion clinics, but the law also protects religious services from unlawful interference.
The Trump administration’s increased immigration operations in the Minneapolis and St. Paul areas in recent weeks have led to heightened tensions between immigration officers, anti-ICE protesters, Democratic state officials, and the administration. Anti-ICE protesters said one of the pastors at the church they targeted worked for ICE.