Activists call for Cities Church pastor to resign over ICE leadership conflict

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Twin Cities community members and activists gathered at the Hennepin County Government Center on Tuesday to call for the resignation of the pastor at a St. Paul church due to his possible connection to ICE.

Activists call for David Easterwood to resign from Cities Church

What we know:

Nekiva Levy Armstrong, a Twin Cities civil rights attorney and ordained reverend since 2016, and Monique Cullers, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, were among a group of community activities Tuesday to call for the resignation of David Easterwood as pastor of Cities Church in St. Paul.

They say Easterwood is also the acting field director for ICE in Minnesota. They say it’s a direct conflict of interest for someone in a faith leadership role to also be a leader in immigration enforcement operations.

"The gospel I believe in says we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Contrast that gospel message to what we have been seeing by ICE and the terrorism they have engaged in. They have literally kicked in people’s doors, dragged people out of their homes. Somebody tell me how it is acceptable for David Easterwood to be a pastor when he is condoning this kind of conduct?" Armstrong said. "These people need to be called out and need to be held accountable. We are calling for the resignation of David Easterwood from Cities Church. His dual role as a pastor and as a director of the ICE office is a most definitely conflict of interest, and it cannot stand."

"When I learned of David Easterwood’s role in Cities Church, it was obvious that there was a need for correction," Cullars said. "It is an abomination for someone to put the title of Reverend, which means reverence for God, before his name and act as a field director for ICE. There is nothing about the ICE operations here that aligns itself with Jesus Christ."

Racial Justice Network disrupts Cities Church Sunday service

The backstory:

Armstrong and Cullars say they were the co-organizers of a protest during a Sunday service at Cities Church in St. Paul.

They led activists with the Racial Justice Network, a group that marched into the church on Sunday and disrupted the service. They say the pastor, David Easterwood, is the acting field director for ICE in Minnesota.

Easterwood did not appear to be at Sunday’s service. The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is investigating Sunday’s protest for potential violations of the federal FACE Act, which prohibits exercising First Amendment rights in a place of worship.

"We came into the church to confront an injustice, the director of the ICE field office in Minnesota, also serving as a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul. Someone help me understand how it’s possible to hold both roles with integrity, with honor," Armstrong said. "The gospel I believe in says we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Contrast that gospel message to what we have been seeing by ICE and the terrorism they have engaged in."

"When we went to that church in peace, we did not storm Cities Church, we did not descend from helicopters, did not have military gear. We walked in peacefully, this was not January 6," Cullars said. "This was not an insurrection, this was a correction."

Cities Church responds

Officials with Cities Church in St. Paul issued the following statement on their website on Tuesday, in response to Sunday's protest.

What they're saying:

"On Sunday, January 18, a group of agitators jarringly disrupted our worship gathering. They accosted members of our congregation, frightened children, and created a scene marked by intimidation and threat. Such conduct is shameful, unlawful, and will not be tolerated. Invading a church service to disrupt the worship of Jesus — or any other act of worship — is protected by neither the Christian Scriptures nor the laws of this nation.

We welcome respectful dialogue about present issues, and about how the realness of Jesus, as revealed in the Bible, provides the only final answers to the world’s most complex and intractable problems."