A BLM leader and school board member and another alleged ringleader of an anti-ICE mob who stormed a Minnesota church during Sunday service have been arrested, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday morning.
“We have arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota,” AG Bondi said in a statement on X.
“Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” she said.
Armstrong allegedly led the group, including Don Lemon, from the Racial Justice Network to storm the church and call out resident pastor David Eastwood, accusing him of moonlighting as the acting field office director for ICE in Minnesota.
A picture of Armstrong being led away in handcuffs was shared by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on X on Thursday morning.
Armstrong is being charged with “Conspiracy against rights,” which makes it a federal crime to intimidate someone in the free exercise of their rights as secured by the US Constitution.
“Religious freedom is the bedrock of the United States – there is no First Amendment right to obstruct someone from practicing their religion,” Sec. Noem said on X.
AG Bondi also confirmed that a second suspect, Chauntyll Louisa Allen, who bragged about organizing the protests, had been taken into custody in a separate X post.
Allen — a Black Lives Matter leader and member of the Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education — had earlier compared herself to Jesus, saying she had been inspired by his cleansing of the temple.
“I grew up in the church and one of the things that I remember about Jesus Christ is that when things weren’t going right in the church, he went in and he flipped tables,” Allen told TMZ, adding that her mother was a pastor.
Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
AG Bondi’s announcement was met with dozens of responses calling for the arrest of frequently-fired independent news commentator Lemon, who was allegedly among the rabble who stormed the church.
