President Trump on Tuesday blasted the anti-ICE protesters who stormed a Minnesota church during a service as professional “insurrectionists” — demanding they be thrown in jail or deported along with “corrupt politicians” Gov. Tim Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar.
The Department of Justice is investigating dozens of protesters who raided the Cities Church in St. Paul on Sunday looking for a pastor whom they accused of moonlighting as the acting field office director for ICE in Minnesota.
“Just watched footage of the Church Raid in Minnesota by the agitators and insurrectionists. These people are professionals!” Trump raged in an early-morning Truth Social post Tuesday.
President Trump speaks to reporters while boarding Air Force One on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. REUTERS“No person acts the way they act. They are highly trained to scream, rant, and rave, like lunatics, in a certain manner, just like they are doing. They are troublemakers who should be thrown in jail, or thrown out of the Country,” he continued.
Trump added that Walz and Omar should be “first to go.”
“Investigate these Corrupt Politicians, and do it now!” he added.
Trump’s comments come after the Department of Homeland Security shared video of the church protest and accused Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of “whipping these mobs into a frenzy and then allowing them to run rampant.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced he would not run for re-election. AP
A group of protesters stormed a church service in Minneapolis on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. Don Lemon / YouTube“They’re going from hotel to hotel, church to church, hunting for federal law enforcement who are risking their lives to protect Americans,” DHS posted on X.
The protest, which was joined by former CNN news anchor Don Lemon, saw churchgoers harassed and stalked into the streets by demonstrators who called out resident pastor David Eastwood for allegedly working for ICE.
Here’s the latest on the Minneapolis ICE protests
- Minneapolis businesses hammered as anti-ICE protests rage on: ‘the pandemic all over again’
- Alleged ringleader of anti-ICE, Minnesota church-storming mob arrested
- Army preps 1,500 soldiers for possible MN deployment, Trump’s Greenland tariffs irk friends and foes
- Infuriated ICE agent tells protestors they’re protecting a child sex offender he’s come to arrest
The pastor’s personal information appears to match that of the David Easterwood identified in court filings as the acting director of the ICE St. Paul field office, according to ABC News.
Easterwood appeared alongside DHS Secretary Kristi Noem at a Minneapolis press conference in October, according to the outlet.
Don Lemon was with the group of agitators at the Minneapolis church on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2026. Don Lemon / YouTube
Rep. Ilhan Omar represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District. APThe service disrupters chanted slogans heard at dozens of other protests that have erupted around the Twin Cities since mom of three Renee Nicole Good was shot dead by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
US Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said her agency is investigating federal civil rights violations by the protesters “desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.”
“A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws!” she said on social media.
