The U.S. Department of Justice has announced indictments against 30 additional individuals in connection with a Jan. 18 protest inside Cities Church in Minnesota, bringing the total number charged in the case so far to 39.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Feb. 27 that the latest unsealed charges stem from what federal officials describe as a coordinated disruption of worship services. The protest, framed as against ICE, targeted a pastor at the church who organizers said was an ICE agent.
“At my direction, federal agents have already arrested 25 of them, with more to come throughout the day,” Bondi said. “You cannot attack a house of worship. If you do so, you cannot hide from us. We will find you, arrest you and prosecute you.”
“This Department of Justice stands for Christians and all Americans of faith,” she added.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon cited the FACE Act and the Klan Act in the arrests, highlighting teamwork by “our Department of Justice Civil Rights Division prosecutors,” with assistance from “HSI and FBI agents to make these arrests safely and fast.”
Dhillon said she was “up in the early hours of this morning to monitor the arrests in this case.”
Kash Patel, director of the FBI, noted that the arrests follow the arrest of journalist Don Lemon and “multiple alleged leaders of the riot.”
He added that “this FBI will never tolerate anyone who targets, intimidates or attacks Americans peacefully exercising their right to worship freely.”
