(RNS) — Leaders of Cities Church, the Minneapolis congregation whose worship service was disrupted by anti-ICE protesters, are considering legal action against the activists, saying the group that invaded the church on Sunday (Jan. 18) “jarringly disrupted our worship gathering.”
In a statement issued Tuesday, the church leaders said the protesters “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.”
The church also called on federal officials to protect all houses of worship from similar protests.
Nekima Levy Armstrong, a minister, lawyer and activist, told The Washington Post that activists were protesting against David Easterwood, a lay pastor and elder at the Southern Baptist church who also works for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Armstrong said she was angered at seeing a video of Easterwood defending his work with ICE.
“I don’t understand how as a pastor he thinks that that’s acceptable,” Levy Armstrong told the Post.
Easterwood is one of several ICE officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, named in a federal lawsuit filed by protesters in Minnesota who have accused federal officials of trying to suppress their free speech. “They have pepper-sprayed, violently subdued, and aimed assault rifles at protesters and …