NAMB pledges to protect So. Baptist church stormed by anti-ICE activists

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, January 21, 2026

The leader of the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board has vowed to protect churches from “lawless harassment” after anti-ICE activists barged into Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, disrupting Sunday worship and frightening families. 

In a statement released Monday, NAMB President Kevin Ezell said the protesters violated "the sanctuary by shouting, blowing whistles, and intentionally interrupting ongoing services.” 

“This group trespassed on public property and willfully obstructed Christian worship. No cause — political or otherwise — justifies the desecration of a sacred space or the intimidation and trauma inflicted on families gathered peacefully in the house of God,” he wrote. “What occurred was not protest; it was lawless harassment.” 

I didn’t really want to watch this video but finally viewed it all just now. We really need to require our liberal friends and relatives to view it. It’s so terrible.

pic.twitter.com/iDtCYUxJ0V

— SteveAustinWI (@SteveAustinWI) January 19, 2026

Ezell expressed gratitude that “the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has already indicated that an investigation is underway to determine whether federal laws were violated when protesters interfered with worship and desecrated this sacred space.” He also thanked local law enforcement for their “swift and decisive response” while calling on “local and state leaders in Minnesota to ensure that order is restored and that egregious events of this nature are not permitted to happen again.” 

“NAMB will unequivocally stand with and defend our churches,” he vowed. “We will do whatever is necessary to protect those who serve faithfully and to uphold the right of churches to worship without fear or interference.” 

Ezell’s message comes after protesters, including activists affiliated with the Racial Justice Network and Black Lives Matter Minnesota, stormed the sanctuary of Cities Church on Sunday as Senior Pastor Jonathan Parnell was leading worship. The disruption forced the service to end prematurely. The protesters alleged that one of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, leads a local ICE office in St. Paul. 

In a statement Tuesday reacting to the disruption, Parnell maintained that protesters “accosted members of our congregation, frightened children, and created a scene marked by intimidation and threat.”

According to Parnell, “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.”

“Church buildings are meant to be places of peace and solace, where worshipers can hear and live out this message. We therefore call on local, state, and national leaders to protect this fundamental right. We are evaluating next steps with our legal counsel,” he added.

The protest inside Cities Church, in which protesters chanted the phrase “ICE Out!” and one agitator heckled the pastor, and others shouted at congregants, took place just over a week after an ICE agent shot and killed protester Renee Good in nearby Minneapolis. Good drove her SUV into an ICE agent, causing internal injuries, after she was asked to exit her vehicle by a separate ICE official. She had been blocking traffic on a residential street and had refused to move her vehicle before driving into the ICE officer. 

The Trump administration has defended ICE operations in Minnesota as necessary to ensure the arrest and removal of dangerous illegal criminals from the U.S.

In a statement last weekend, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that ICE had detained illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes, including rape, sexual assault and homicide. Many of the illegal alien criminals captured by ICE were subject to orders of removal dating back decades. 

“Regardless of staged political theatrics, ICE is going to continue to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in Minnesota and elsewhere,” vowed ICE Director Todd Lyons. “Some of these criminal aliens have had final orders of removal for 30 years, but they’ve been free to terrorize Minnesotans. ICE’s arrests prevent recidivism and make communities safer, but it feels like local politicians want to ignore that part and drum up discontent rather than protect their own constituents.”