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Rights and risks: When does helping undocumented immigrants become obstruction?
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Department of Justice says it is investigating an anti-ICE protest that disrupted services at a St. Paul church on Sunday morning.
Protest disrupts church services in St. Paul
What we know:
Activists with the Racial Justice Network disrupted church services at Cities Church in St. Paul to oppose a pastor at the church.
Protesters went to the church because they say the pastor in question, David Easterwood, is also the acting field office director for ICE in Minnesota. The protest was documented in part by former CNN anchor turned YouTuber Don Lemon. Video from Black Lives Matter Minnesota also show protesters chanting during services.
"This cannot be a house of God while harboring someone directing ICE agents to wreak havoc on our community," attorney Nekima Levy-Armstrong told Lemon during his livestream, explaining why the group was at the church. "I am a reverend on top of being a lawyer and an activist, so I come here in the power of the almighty God."
Dig deeper:
FOX 9 can confirm a man named David Easterwood is the acting field office director in Minnesota. Easterwood is routinely named in DHS court filings. However, FOX 9 wasn't able to confirm acting director is the same David Easterwood listed as a pastor on the CIties Church website.
The other side:
Easterwood did not appear to be on hand for Sunday's services. But the church's lead pastor, Jonathan Parnell, did speak with Lemon.
Parnell said the protests inside the church were "shameful." "It's shameful to see anyone interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship," said Parnell. "I have to take care of my church and my family."
Parnell then asked Lemon to leave unless he was there to worship.
DOJ says they are investigating
What they're saying:
Sunday afternoon, hours after the protests, officials with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division said they were looking into the disruption.
In tweets, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon responded to video of the protest by writing: "We are on it @CivilRights, working with the USAO in Minneapolis. This is un-American and outrageous."
Dhillon later added: "The @CivilRights is investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers. Considering and investigating other related crimes as well. @FBI activated too!"
The FACE Act prohibits the use of force to prevent people from receiving reproductive health services, or exercising First Amendment rights at a place of worship.
Just this past fall, the Justice Department filed a FACE Act lawsuit over a protest at a New Jersey synagogue during a ceremony to honor the life of a late rabbi.