Anti-ICE protestors, who entered the Cities Church in the St Paul-Minneapolis area on Sunday, could get into legal trouble. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon reacted to videos of the protest, saying a probe is ongoing, threatening demonstrators with the FACE Act.
“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. @AGPamBondi,” Dhillon posted on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
What is the FACE Act?
The FACE Act (1994) is a federal law that prohibits the use of force, threats of force, physical obstruction, or property damage to interfere with a person’s religious freedom or access to a place of religious worship.
It makes it illegal to intentionally injure, intimidate, or interfere with someone because they are exercising their right to religious practice, or because they are providing or receiving religious services. Violations are federal crimes, punishable by fines and up to 10 years in prison
David Easterwood claims
The protest at Cities Church took place amid claims on social media about pastor David Easterwood serving as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Field Office Director in St. Paul. The name David Easterwood indeed appears in federal records as the Acting Field Office Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations. However, it is unclear whether the ICE officer and the pastor is the same person.
{{/usCountry}}The protest at Cities Church took place amid claims on social media about pastor David Easterwood serving as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Field Office Director in St. Paul. The name David Easterwood indeed appears in federal records as the Acting Field Office Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations. However, it is unclear whether the ICE officer and the pastor is the same person.
{{/usCountry}}Separately, social posts say that a person named David Easterwood is listed as a pastor at Cities Church, a Christian congregation in the Twin Cities area.
However, there is no independent confirmation that these two references refer to the same individual, and no credible reporting has established that the pastor and the ICE official are the same person. Authorities and the church have not publicly verified any connection between the two identities.
Don Lemon faces flak
Filming the protests was former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who faced criticism on social media. “Leftist rioters in Minneapolis just STORMED A CHURCH after Don Lemon erroneously accused the priest of working with ICE. Just like Walz and Frey, Lemon is lying to spark riots out here. Lemon’s desperately trying to be relevant again,” one person said on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
The protests take place days after an ICE agent, identified as Jonathan Ross, fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in a residential neighborhood of Minneapolis.