Federal judges reject DOJ motion to detain arrested Minnesota protesters

Judges in Minnesota denied motions by the Trump administration to detain three protesters arrested this week for demonstrating inside a St. Paul church whose pastor allegedly works for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

U.S. District Judge Laura M. Provinzino wrote in her order for two of the protesters, Nekima Valdez Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen, that Justice Department lawyers failed to “demonstrate that a detention hearing is warranted, or that detention is otherwise appropriate.”

But the protesters were released after a federal judge found the Trump administration offered “no factual or legal support” to justify two of the arrests.

Armstrong, Allen and Kelly were charged by criminal complaint in a case that involves an unknown number of defendants. Because not all the defendants are in custody, the criminal affidavit, a sworn statement by an officer used to establish cause for an arrest, is redacted. The case cites the FACE Act, a federal statute that has historically been used to protect reproductive facilities, but also contains provisions that cover houses of worship.

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Trump administration arrests protesters who disrupted Minnesota church service

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But records show that the federal magistrate judge found there was no probable cause to charge Levy Armstrong and Allen on FACE Act charges, and they instead face a single count of conspiracy against constitutional rights, a statute with roots in the post-Civil War era. The law makes it a crime to conspire with others to “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate” anyone exercising their constitutional rights, and was one of the crimes Jack Smith alleged Donald Trump committed in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Kelly also appears now to be facing only one charge of conspiracy against rights.

The criminal affidavit was signed by a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The affidavit states that “a group of approximately 30-40 agitators, working together in a coordinated manner,” entered the St. Paul church and engaged in conduct that “disrupted the religious service and intimidated, harassed, oppressed, and terrorized the parishioners, including young children, and caused the service to be cut short and forced parishioners to flee the church out of a side door, which resulted in one female victim falling and suffering an injury.”

Leading the case for the Trump administration are Civil Rights Division attorneys Robert Keenan and Orlando Sonza, a former Republican congressional candidate, alongside Kristian C.S. Weir of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.

Attorneys for both Levy Armstrong and Allen did not immediately return requests for comment. It wasn’t immediately clear who was representing Kelly. The DOJ also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The judge ruled that Levy Armstrong and Allen “have strong ties to Minnesota and did not flee (in fact, they are staying at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis known to federal law enforcement) — despite knowing that they were being investigated,” calling the Trump administration’s risk-of-flight evidence “simply speculative.”

A federal magistrate judge — as NBC News reported — shut down the Trump administration’s attempt to charge former CNN host Don Lemon in connection with the incident. Trump Justice Department officials have repeatedly said they still plan to pursue Lemon, and his attorney Abbe Lowell said Lemon would “call out their latest attack on the rule of law and fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court” if the DOJ continues with its “stunning and troubling effort to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job.”

On Thursday, the White House posted to social media an altered image of Levy Armstrong to make it appear as if she were crying during her arrest, a senior White House official confirmed to NBC News.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had previously posted the original image on X of Levy Armstrong looking ahead calmly as she was taken into custody.

The senior White House official said the altered photo was a “meme” and referred NBC News to a post from White House deputy communications director Kaelan Dorr, who said on X: “Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue.”