President Donald Trump issued a blistering response Tuesday after anti-ICE activists disrupted a church service in Minnesota, calling the demonstrators “professional insurrectionists” and demanding criminal prosecutions, arrests, and deportations.
The protest took place Sunday at a church in St. Paul, where activists interrupted a religious service while searching for a pastor they accused of being connected to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Federal officials later confirmed that the Department of Justice has opened a review into the incident, including possible civil-rights violations.
In an early-morning post on Truth Social, President Trump said video footage of the disruption showed coordinated and deliberate behavior.
“These people are professionals,” Trump wrote. “No normal person behaves this way. They are trained to scream, rant, and disrupt — and they should be thrown in jail or removed from the country.”
Trump also criticized Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Representative Ilhan Omar, accusing them of encouraging anti-law-enforcement sentiment and calling for immediate federal investigations into what he described as political misconduct.
“Investigate these Corrupt Politicians, and do it now!” Trump added.
The Department of Homeland Security released video from the protest and accused state and local leaders of allowing extremist behavior to spiral out of control. In a statement posted online, DHS warned that activists are now targeting federal officers at multiple locations, including churches and hotels.
“They are hunting federal law enforcement officers who are risking their lives to protect Americans,” the agency said.
The demonstration reportedly included public figures and escalated into confrontations that spilled into nearby streets. Churchgoers were followed and harassed as protesters shouted accusations at the resident pastor.
According to media reports, the pastor’s personal information closely matched that of an ICE official listed in federal court filings as the acting director of the agency’s St. Paul field office. That same official previously appeared at a public event alongside DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
The protest is part of a broader wave of demonstrations that have spread across the Twin Cities following a fatal law-enforcement encounter earlier this year. Officials say inflammatory rhetoric has contributed to increasingly aggressive protests aimed directly at federal agents.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon confirmed that the Justice Department is examining whether federal laws protecting religious freedom were violated.
“A house of worship is not a public forum for political protest,” Dhillon stated. “Federal criminal and civil laws exist to protect religious services from exactly this kind of interference.”
As the investigation continues, the incident is intensifying national debate over immigration enforcement, public safety, and whether political leaders are enabling radical activism — an issue President Trump has vowed to confront head-on.