6 minPolitics
Defendants ask federal judge to dismiss church protest case as vindictive prosecution
More than 30 people charged over a January protest inside a St. Paul church are asking a federal judge to dismiss the case, arguing the Justice Department brought charges at President Donald Trump's direction as political payback.
More than 30 people charged over a January protest inside a St. Paul church are asking a federal judge to dismiss the case, arguing the Justice Department brought the prosecution at President Donald Trump's direction as political payback. The joint motion filed Aug. 31 in U.S. District Court in Minnesota claims the government charged the defendants in a selective and vindictive prosecution that has a chilling effect on lawful dissent.
The defendants were reacting to Trump's immigration enforcement directives, which their attorneys say "caused terror, violence, and murder in Minnesota" when protesters entered Cities Church in St. Paul on Jan. 18. The protest was prompted by the knowledge that the church's pastor, David Easterwood, also worked for the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office. Federal charges followed within days.
Federal agents arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and activist, on Jan. 22. Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrest on social media, claiming the NAACP leader "allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church." A grand jury indicted nine defendants a week later, and a superseding indictment in February added 30 more people.
The motion argues the Justice Department brought the case "at the direction and behest of President Donald J. Trump" and to fulfill a "mission to satisfy the personal animosities of its chief client, Donald Trump." The attorneys describe the charges as "unequal, oppressive" and say they have "a clear and dangerous chilling effect on the Defendants and anyone else who wants to voice their opposition to U.S. Government policies."
The protest occurred during Operation Metro Surge, which sent as many as 2,000 federal agents and officers into the Minneapolis area in what the motion describes as one of the largest single-city Homeland Security mobilizations in years. Days before the church protest, Renee Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at the VA hospital, was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer on Jan. 24 while protesting peacefully in Minneapolis, the motion says.
Those arrested at the church, including Armstrong, pleaded not guilty in February to conspiracy against rights. Armstrong told Democracy Now! that authorities "have altered the facts, just as they altered my image as a way of trying to criminalize nonviolent, peaceful protests and lawful dissent against their unlawful and unjust actions," referring to an administration photo that appeared digitally altered to show her crying.
The charges stem from the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a law Congress passed to stop violence against abortion providers. The law also covers places of worship, but no one had ever been criminally charged under its place-of-worship provision in its 30-year history, according to the motion.
The defendants argue they were treated differently from others who engaged in similar or more serious conduct. Trump pardoned 24 people convicted of FACE Act violations within days of taking office in 2025, some of whom had been convicted in multiple jurisdictions. One pardoned defendant had live-streamed her intent to "terrorize this place" the day before she barricaded a Manhattan clinic door, crushing a worker's hand with such force that three people were needed to pry the door open, the motion says.
Anti-abortion activist Mark Houck was charged with shoving an elderly clinic escort to the ground twice and was acquitted at trial. He then sued the government, and a district judge dismissed every claim as not plausible. The administration reportedly agreed to pay Houck more than $1 million to settle the case on appeal without ever filing a brief in defense of the government, according to the motion.
Two other church disruptions drew no federal charges at all. Protesters in Orlando, Florida, rose during a children's sermon at an LGBTQ-affirming church in March 2025 and shouted "Synagogue of Sin!" at the congregation. Republican congressional candidate Valentina Gomez stood up during a service at a Texas church in November 2025 and said that "homosexuality is a sin and whoever supports that is worthy of death," the motion says. Neither incident produced a federal investigation or a FACE Act charge.
The dismissal motion is not the only trouble facing prosecutors. U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko ordered the Justice Department in July to hand over grand jury testimony and evidence so he could determine whether the government misled jurors while seeking the indictment. Journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort filed their own motions to dismiss in August, with Fort arguing that she was covering the protest as a reporter.
