Protesters Disrupt Church Worship in Minnesota: What Happened and What Churches Should Learn
Video circulated today showing anti ICE protesters entering and disrupting a Sunday worship service at Cities Church in St Paul, Minnesota. The footage shows individuals shouting accusations, confronting congregants, and interrupting worship while alleging that one of the church’s pastors has ties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Federal officials have since confirmed that the Department of Justice is reviewing the incident to determine whether federal laws protecting religious worship were violated.
This event did not appear out of nowhere. It fits into a broader pattern that churches need to understand clearly and calmly.
The Lead Up: Escalating Tensions Around Federal Enforcement
In recent weeks, immigration enforcement activity in Minnesota has become a flashpoint. Protests against ICE have drawn large crowds in the Twin Cities, with rhetoric increasingly targeting individual agents, government officials, and institutions perceived as connected to enforcement.
In earlier Christian Warrior Training reporting, I documented how protests and activist pressure campaigns were expanding beyond government buildings and into public and community spaces. That included churches, whether intentionally or as collateral targets.
In a recent Church Security Intelligence Briefing, I warned that civil unrest tied to federal enforcement issues was no longer confined to marches or rallies. Activist groups were beginning to personalize their grievances, naming individuals, sharing locations online, and applying pressure in places where people are most visible and least defended.
That matters because churches are open, predictable, and symbolically powerful targets.
Prior Reporting and Warning Indicators
Before today’s disruption, Christian Warrior Training covered several relevant developments:
Escalating rhetoric against federal agents and those perceived to support them
Activist calls to confront individuals outside of traditional protest zones
Increased risk of confrontations spilling into churches, schools, and community events
The likelihood that accusations would be made publicly first, with verification coming later, if at all
Those patterns were outlined in both the Church Crime and Incident Newsletter and the Church Security Intelligence Briefing published earlier this month.
Today’s incident follows that trajectory almost exactly.
What We Know About Today’s Incident
Based on video evidence and local reporting:
Protesters entered a Sunday worship service at Cities Church in St Paul
The group disrupted worship, shouted accusations, and confronted congregants
Claims were made that one of the church’s pastors has ties to ICE
Those claims are circulating widely online but have not been independently confirmed by major outlets
The Department of Justice has acknowledged it is reviewing the incident
Regardless of how the identity issue resolves, the core issue for churches is straightforward. A worship service was interrupted by an organized group acting on political grievances.
That alone is enough to demand attention.
Why This Matters for Churches Nationwide
This incident highlights several realities churches can no longer ignore.
First, churches are no longer viewed as neutral spaces by activists. In moments of social tension, churches are increasingly treated as platforms, symbols, or leverage points.
Second, accusations often move faster than verification. By the time facts are sorted out, damage to safety, trust, and worship has already occurred.
Third, disruptions do not have to turn violent to be harmful. A loud, aggressive intrusion during worship can cause panic, trauma, and long term fear among congregants, especially children and seniors.
Finally, federal investigations after the fact do not prevent the initial disruption. Preparedness does.
What Churches Should Be Doing Now
This is not a call for fear or bunker mentality. It is a call for awareness and planning.
Churches should take the following steps seriously:
1. Plan for protest style disruptions, not just violent threats
Many security plans focus heavily on active shooters while ignoring organized non violent intrusions. Teams need protocols for disruptive groups that refuse to leave but are not immediately violent.
2. Train greeters and security teams on early intervention
The first line of defense is often the front door. Teams should be trained to recognize group entry, coordinated behavior, and early verbal escalation before it reaches the sanctuary.
3. Establish clear authority and response roles
Who makes the call to ask someone to leave. Who contacts law enforcement. Who communicates with staff and congregation. These decisions should not be made on the fly.
4. Coordinate with local law enforcement ahead of time
Churches that already have a relationship with local police can get faster, more appropriate responses during disruptions.
5. Control internal communications during an incident
Panic spreads faster than facts. Churches should have a plan for calm, clear instructions to congregants if a disruption occurs.
6. Avoid reacting publicly before facts are verified
Social media pressure will be intense. Churches should slow down, verify information, and communicate carefully to avoid amplifying false claims.
Why Intelligence Monitoring Matters
One of the reasons I publish intelligence briefings for churches is to give leaders time to think before something happens. Today’s incident reinforces that value.
Threats to churches are not always explicit. Often they are visible only when you connect dots across multiple events, protests, and narratives.
Paid subscribers received early warning indicators and contextual analysis that made today’s event unsurprising, even if the specific church was not known in advance.
This is exactly why churches need ongoing situational awareness, not just reaction after something goes viral.
BIBLE STUDY
I’m just going to leave you with this bible verse, which I think is fitting for what is going on right now.
2 Timothy 3:1-7
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.
Final Thoughts
Churches exist to worship Christ freely and openly. That requires wisdom, preparation, and discernment, not fear.
The disruption in St Paul should be taken seriously, not sensationalized. It should prompt churches to review their readiness for civil unrest, protest activity, and non traditional disruptions that are becoming more common.
Ignoring these trends does not make churches more faithful. It makes them more vulnerable.
Relevant prior reporting:
Church Crime and Incident Newsletter
https://www.christianwarriortraining.com/p/pastor-killed-pedestrian-struck-andChurch Security Intelligence Briefing
https://www.christianwarriortraining.com/p/church-security-intelligence-briefing
In His Service,
Keith Graves
