Church Under Siege: Why the Law Must Act After the Anti-ICE Attack on Cities Church

What happened at Cities Church on January 18, 2026, was not peaceful protest, civil disobedience, or protected speech. It was an organized assault on Christian worship—and the law requires accountability.

During a Sunday worship service, anti-ICE activists entered the church, chanting slogans, confronting congregants, and deliberately disrupting prayer and preaching. The protest targeted a pastor alleged by activists to have ties to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but the impact fell squarely on families gathered to worship God. What unfolded was chaos, intimidation, and fear—precisely the conduct federal law exists to stop.

According to a federal affidavit filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, protesters blocked exits and interior pathways, preventing parents from reaching their children in the church’s childcare area. Children cried in panic; one reportedly told his father, “I thought we were going to die.” Demonstrators screamed profanities at worshippers, including the elderly. As congregants tried to flee, one woman fell and suffered a broken arm.

This was not incidental disorder. The affidavit describes a coordinated conspiracy to intimidate and deprive congregants of their constitutional right to the free exercise of religion—conduct that fits squarely within federal statutes such as 18 U.S.C. § 241 (conspiracy against rights) and the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which also protects houses of worship.

Several organizers were arrested in the days that followed, including Nekima Levy Armstrong, a former NAACP leader accused of helping organize the disruption, and Chauntyll Louisa Allen. Activist William Kelly was also charged. All were released pending further proceedings, fueling criticism that the justice system is treating this attack with kid gloves.

The controversy intensified when Don Lemon, present at the church livestreaming the disruption, was not charged after a magistrate judge declined an initial complaint citing First Amendment concerns. While journalism deserves protection, livestreaming an unlawful intrusion into a worship service is not journalism—it is participation. The Department of Justice has signaled that additional charging avenues remain under review.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has been unequivocal: attacks on houses of worship will not be tolerated. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon similarly described the incident as a desecration of Christian worship. They are right to do so. A nation that cannot protect churches from mob intimidation has abandoned one of its most basic constitutional duties.

Supporters of the protesters claim the disruption was “nonviolent” and liken it to historic civil rights demonstrations. That comparison collapses under scrutiny. Blocking exits, terrorizing children, and injuring congregants is not moral witness—it is coercion. Scripture teaches that God is not a God of disorder but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33). What occurred at Cities Church was the opposite of peace.

Equally troubling are comparisons to January 6 defendants, many of whom endured harsh pretrial treatment. The contrast has intensified concerns about unequal justice—where left-aligned activists who invade a church are released quickly, while others face the full weight of the system. Justice must be blind, or it is not justice at all.

Legal action in this case is not about suppressing dissent against immigration policy. Americans remain free to protest ICE—lawfully, peacefully, and outside the doors of a sanctuary. This case is about drawing a bright line: churches are not political battlegrounds, and worshippers are not collateral damage.

If federal authorities fail to follow through, the message will be unmistakable—Christian worship is fair game for intimidation so long as it comes wrapped in activist slogans. The law exists to prevent exactly that outcome. It must be enforced.

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