US: Trump administration condemns protest at Minnesota church, DOJ opens investigation

Minnesota [US], January 19 (ANI): President Donald Trump has sharply condemned the Minnesota incident in which anti-ICE demonstrators entered a church during a worship service on Sunday (local time).

The US president said that federal authorities will not tolerate interference with religious worship.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a post on X wrote, "President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship. The Department of Justice has launched a full investigation into the despicable incident that took place earlier today at a church in Minnesota."

The disruption occurred at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where a group of protesters stormed the sanctuary during a Sunday service over online claims that one of the church's pastors also serves in a senior role with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Videos circulating on social media showed chant-ing and demonstrators inside the church as services were underway, raising immediate concern from federal authorities, reported Fox News.

Protesters were heard chanting slogans such as "Justice for Renee Good" and "ICE out" while confronting worshippers. The demonstration is part of a broader wave of protests that have erupted across the Minneapolis-St. Paul area following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident fatally shot by an ICE agent earlier this month - a case that has intensified tensions between federal agencies and local communities.

Responding to the church incident, the Department of Justice announced it has opened a civil rights investigation into the protest to determine whether federal laws were violated. In a post from the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said federal prosecutors are probing whether demonstrators "desecrated a house of worship and interfered with Christian worshippers," invoking the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which also protects houses of worship from obstruction.

The Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security also condemned the protest. A DHS statement declared, "Agitators aren't just targeting our officers. Now they're targeting churches, too. They're going from hotel to hotel, church to church, hunting for federal law enforcement who are risking their lives to protect Americans." DHS further blamed state and local officials, asserting they had failed to prevent the unrest.

Local Minnesota leaders offered a starkly different interpretation of the events. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, appearing on CBS' Face the Nation, rejected characterizations of the protests as lawless, arguing that the federal enforcement presence has made many residents feel targeted rather than protected. "This is not about safety. What this is about is coming into our city by the thousands and terrorizing people simply because they're Latino or Somali," Frey said, framing the demonstrations as peaceful advocacy for community members. (ANI)

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