Bondi announced the arrest of Nekima Levy Armstrong in a post on X days after protesters during Sunday service stormed the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as one of the pastors.
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 anti-ICE protester who was fatally shot by an ICE officer when she sped up her car in the officer's direction.
“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 arrest comes just hours before Vice President Vance is set to visit Minneapolis to support the ICE agents.
Vance, speaking in Toledo ahead of his Minnesota visit, said the church protesters scared “little kids.”
“Those people are going to be sent to prison so long as we have the power to do so. We’re going to do everything we can to enforce the law," he said.
