Pastor Jamal Bryant calls for arrest of man who protested inside his church

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Monday, February 09, 2026

Megachurch Pastor Jamal Bryant called for the arrest of an unidentified man who recently protested in the lobby of his church using what he deemed “hate speech” and wrath.

Bryant, who leads New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, made the call in after the arrest of protesters who disrupted a Sunday service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 18.

Federal authorities accused the activists of violating religious freedoms and the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994, which prohibits "intentionally injuring, intimidating, or interfering with ... [anyone] seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship."

Speaking on a recent episode of his podcast “Let’s Be Clear,” Bryant called on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to apply the standard to the unidentified man and his wife, who lashed out at congregants in the lobby of his church while demanding that they repent about two weeks before the protest at the Minnesota church.

“You need to repent. Your pedophile co-founder is in Hell right now, and you're going to find your way into Hell with him unless you repent," the protester said, referring to the late pastor Eddie Long, who was accused of sexual misconduct by former congregants.

"Jamal Bryant, you're a wicked dog, a vile bundle of sticks. You deserve the lake of fire you're going to get when you die. Kids, read the Bible and don't do what that guy says."

Bryant criticized Bondi for what he believes is a double standard in the way protests at black churches and white churches are treated.

As of Monday, nine people have been arrested in connection with the disruption of the Cities Church service, including former CNN host Don Lemon and civil rights activist and attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, who heads the Minnesota-based Racial Justice Network and admitted to leading the protest that disrupted the churhch. 

They were charged, along with the other activists, who protested one of the church's pastors, who leads a local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in St. Paul.

“This white evangelical nationalist pastor had the audacity, he, and his wife, to get out of his car, as you just saw, and for propaganda and disturbance, filmed themselves coming into our church using hate speech, condemning us with wrath, judgment, and correction. Completely out of order,” Bryant insisted.

“And since you are against places of worship being disturbed and this gentleman attempted to do it at a black church, I want to know when is the arrest warrant (coming)?” he asked. “I don't know his name, but that picture should be clear enough for you to be able to track [him] down with the full span of the FBI.”

Bryant, who is a staunch liberal, contends that the arrest of the anti-ICE protesters was strategic and noted that Armstrong “is the one who started the Target boycott” over the retail giant’s rollback of their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

In 2025, Bryant rejected an offer from Target to settle the dispute with a pledge from the company to invest $2 billion into black-owned businesses by July 31 that year. He called Target's DEI rollback a "spit in the face of black people."  He said that despite Target’s pledge, the company did not honor its commitment to invest in black businesses.

“She called for accountability for this Fortune 500 company in the city that Target is located in. The same company that is harboring ICE agents who is using their parking lots for them to set up. The same organization that pledged $2 billion and still have not turned over the receipts,” the Georgia pastor said.

“And she's the first one they get arrested. Come on, y'all are playing checkers. They playing chess.”

Armstrong