Protests and Religious Institutions

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division says that 38 of the 39 people indicted over the January 2026 storming of Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, have now been arrested, including two suspects taken into custody while abroad, with one remaining at large. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon disclosed on X that all but one of the 39 indicted individuals tied to the disruption of a worship service by an anti‑ICE protest group are now in custody and vowed that the final suspect will be found and arrested. DOJ is investigating whether the attack on the church, which protesters targeted over claims that a pastor was linked to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, violated federal civil‑rights laws and the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which also protects houses of worship. In the same piece, civil‑rights veteran Dr. Alveda King, niece of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., condemned the tactics as hostile and contrary to the nonviolent legacy of the 1960s movement, stressing that churches should be gathering places, not targets, even for those protesting federal immigration policy. The case is drawing attention online from both religious‑liberty advocates and immigration activists, who are watching how aggressively the Trump administration’s DOJ applies FACE Act and civil‑rights charges to protest actions directed at churches.