What happened a few days ago at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, shocked me to my core. Ordinary people worshiped Jesus at that divine hour, as Americans did across the country, when anti-ICE protesters stormed in and took over the worship — all because one of the pastors, David Easterwood, also serves as director of the local ICE field office. Demanding “justice for Renee Good,” these agitators absurdly chanted “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” a long-debunked lie from Ferguson, Missouri. In doing so, they turned the house of God into a battlefield. Is there anything sacred anymore? Or is everything political? Are there no limits to these protesters who value their feelings above all else – even above Jesus?
I have been on my Walk Across America and was in Alabama when this happened. What makes this disruption of God’s house even worse is the irony. ICE has been transparent about the types of dangerous criminals it is targeting in Minnesota through Operation Metro Surge. Recently, officers have arrested the worst of the worst: child molesters, murderers, pedophiles and violent attackers – including a registered sex offender convicted of fondling a child and another charged with raping a minor.
Yet these protesters do not unite against the predators. They call for the abolishment of ICE, as if protecting our communities from such evil is the real crime. Why isn’t this the work of Satan? I don’t say this out of delusion or to be sensational. I say this because it reflects reality.
ST PAUL PASTOR DECLARES ANTI-ICE AGITATORS DISRUPTING CHURCH SERVICES, SAYS ‘WE ARE HERE TO WORSHIP JESUS’
Do you know what it’s like to live among people who have chosen the path of evil? We deal with it every day on the South Side of Chicago, where I have seen evil like this ruin lives. We have suffered the consequences of defunding the police, and we will suffer even more from this latest attack on law and order. That’s a big reason why I’m walking across America – to raise money for my community center, which will protect our children, our future, from the evil that the Minnesota left is trying to protect.
All I know is that when activism crosses the altar, there is no good to be had. The church is not a platform for political intimidation.
That’s why I ask: Is nothing sacred anymore? Does the safety of our children not matter? Doesn’t the safety of every law-abiding citizen matter?
Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, pictured on January 22, 2026. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
All I know is that when activism crosses the altar, there is no good to be had. The church is not a platform for political intimidation. Churches have always been places of refuge, repentance and reconciliation – not props for ideological theater. When activists storm a sanctuary, as they did at Cities Church, shouting at worshipers and frightening children, they are not defending the vulnerable – they are violating sacred ground. It is an attack on the soul of a community that comes together to seek God.
WALKING ACROSS AMERICA SHOWS ME WHY FAITH AND FREE THOUGHT CAN STILL WIN
What really scares me is that we are witnessing the religion of progressivism in action – and it is not God. What we see in these anti-ICE actions is not compassion, but a secular faith with its own sins, saints and heretics. When they sing the lie “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” instead of “Amazing Grace,” they reveal the hollowness of their secularism.
Churches that allow or even sympathize with these types of disruptions are replacing the Gospel with resentment. You cannot preach salvation while exercising ideological coercion. Protesters claim they are fighting for justice, but by invading a worship service they are elevating their agenda above the eternal message of Christ. As the Bible reminds us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world” (Romans 12:2).
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And who turned out to be the face of it all? Don Lemon. He rushed into the church, convinced he was about to tell the story of the year. He didn’t care about the preachers or their congregations. He claimed to be a Christian, but what Christian puts the pursuit of a made-up story above worship and prayer? When he saw the reality of what he had done in the following days, he resorted to blaming the response on white supremacy. No, Don, the race card expired a while ago, but you keep swiping it because it’s all you have, and unfortunately, so do others. The backlash was entirely due to you chasing cheap clicks on Jesus. Do you know what the best remedy for fear of irrelevance is? God.
That’s the tragedy here – not just the disruption, but how quickly the pursuit of relevance through cheap political grandeur can overshadow reverence.
But amid all this noise, one truth remains unwavering: Jesus is still on the throne, and His church will weather any storm. As I continue my Walk Across America, I am more convinced than ever that the answer is not more protests or more division. It is more prayer, more responsibility and more faith in action.
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The Bible tells us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). That is the call – not to tear down sacred spaces, but to build them up; not to abolish order, but to restore it with mercy and truth. Our children deserve churches that stand, communities that protect the vulnerable, and a nation that chooses hope over destruction.
So let’s rise above the chaos. Let us walk in the light, defend the holy, and trust that God’s grace will complete what law and love require. That’s why I keep walking, why we keep building – and why the Gospel will always stand above any fleeting creed.
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