Minnesota Now update: Arrest of anti-ICE protesters and VP visit

[MUSIC PLAYING] NINA MOINI: We are following a few top stories today related to federal law enforcement in the Twin Cities. The FBI has arrested two activists, Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Allen, who were part of an anti-ICE protest at a St. Paul church on Sunday. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino spoke to reporters this morning. And this afternoon, JD Vance is expected to visit Minneapolis. Joining me now to explain what's happening is MPR News reporter Jon Collins. Lots going on. Thanks for being with us, Jon.

JON COLLINS: Thanks for having me, Nina.

NINA MOINI: We learned this morning that the FBI has arrested, again, two Twin Cities activists, longtime activists in the area. Can you start by telling, for those who don't know, who are Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Allen?

JON COLLINS: Yeah, these are both well-known advocates for civil rights. Nekima Levy Armstrong is also an attorney. She might be familiar to a lot of listeners for the role that she's played. Very high-profile in protests over the police killings of African-American men over the years. So that's Jamar Clark, George Floyd. And she's been arrested before during peaceful protests. Notably, in 2015, she was one of 10 activists who were arrested for demonstrating at the Mall of America. They were protesting the shooting death by a police officer of a Black man named Jamar Clark.

And Chauntyll is also a familiar face. Aside from her public activism, she's also a member of the St. Paul Public School Board. And as a member of that board, she has supported the elimination of funding for school resource officers, essentially the police officers stationed in St. Paul schools in the past. And that happened in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd. And she's also recently run for an open St. Paul City Council seat last year.

So that's who those folks are. We're also working to confirm there were quite a few other people involved in both organizing the protests and attending it on Sunday. So we're working to confirm exactly what their status is right now.

NINA MOINI: OK. So in a tweet, Attorney General Pam Bondi called the protest an "attack" on the church. And DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called it a "church riot." Can you describe what the protesters were doing at the church?

JON COLLINS: Yeah, I mean, there's video of this. The protesters alleged that one of the church's pastors-- that's David Easterwood-- also leads the local ICE field office, which oversees ICE operations here. It appears from videos that it was a bit chaotic. There are loud shouts and chants directed at folks. And some of the demonstrators are yelling, "Shame."

But it's peaceful. And Nekima's on camera narrating the action the group is taking at the church. The demonstrators are arguing that Easterwood's role as a pastor and as an ICE official are in conflict with Christian values. And they base that, partly, on some of the aggressive actions that we've all seen taken by federal and ICE officers in the last month and a half in Minnesota, which, of course, have been also captured on dozens and dozens of videos.

NINA MOINI: You mentioned we don't know who else yet may be arrested in connection with this protest, Jon, but what else do you know right now about these protests, how they happened? I'm sorry-- the arrests.

JON COLLINS: Sure, of course. Yeah. Levy Armstrong was arrested this morning at a Loft hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Levy Armstrong's attorney, Jordan Kushner, confirmed their arrest to me this morning. He also said that Chauntyll Allen's wife was tackled by federal agents who apparently thought that she was Nekima Levy Armstrong. And Jordan Kushner, the attorney, also said that Levy Armstrong had arranged to turn herself in, knowing that these charges would come down, but that the orders from DC, he said, were for a hotel arrest.

So after the arrest, agents perp-walked her, which not a standard treatment for folks who are arrested these days, and then posted images of Nekima Levy Armstrong on social media. And we expect that both Levy Armstrong and Allen are going to make appearances in federal court, maybe even as soon as later this hour. And we don't know exactly what will happen yet, whether they'll be held or released.

And then, of course, there were other people involved in the protests and in covering the protests as independent journalists. So we're really working to try to find out what their status is. It's really unclear right now how far the federal government will take this or what the exact charges will be. And there have been people in the community already, Nina, who have expressed skepticism about any charges, saying, chanting is covered by the First Amendment, even if you don't like it.

But just a few moments ago, we got a release from attorneys representing this church who praised the arrest, saying that-- and they believe the First Amendment doesn't allow people to, quote, "violate the sanctity of a sanctuary." So we'll be following this story. And we'll have more to report as the days go on here.

NINA MOINI: Yep. This is still developing. And thank you for following it. We also know Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino spoke to reporters this morning here in the Twin Cities. What did he say?

JON COLLINS: Yeah, Bovino has been in town as part of this federal law enforcement surge in Minnesota. I saw him at the scene minutes after Renee Macklin Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent. And hours after that, he was present at a volatile confrontation outside Roosevelt High School, where federal agents used chemical munitions right as high school kids were being led out.

Bovino said today that federal agents are facing a lot of resistance from people who gather nearby to observe when federal agents are making arrests or checking people's documents. And Bovino said he supports his agents' use of force, which has included the regular deployment of pepper spray, pepper balls shot at folks, as well as tear gas. And he was asked-- Bovino was-- during his press conference about how long this operation of federal agents in Minnesota is going to last.

GREG BOVINO: And we continue to apprehend dozens, if not hundreds, of these criminal, illegal aliens a day. We're going to continue conducting that mission. We're not going to put a date or a timeline to stop this mission. This mission is ongoing until there are no more of those criminal-- illegal aliens roaming the streets of Minneapolis.

JON COLLINS: And it's just really important to point out, Nina, that MPR News and other organizations have reported that many of the people the administration calls the "worst-of-the-worst criminals" were actually taken right from prisons and jails. They weren't grabbed in street sweeps, which is what we're seeing happening in Minneapolis and the entire state of Minnesota right now.

And then the Department of Homeland Security doesn't release the names of many, many other people who are being arrested, up to 3,000, possibly, right now. But data shows that in other places around the country that experienced surges like this, the majority of people detained by immigration agents had no criminal record.

NINA MOINI: Hmm. Another thing happening today, Vice President JD Vance, we mentioned, also expected to be in Minneapolis. What do you about his visit and how he might respond to some of the things you were just talking about?

JON COLLINS: Yeah, JD Vance spoke in Ohio this morning, where he previewed his planned stop in Minneapolis, saying, he's going to talk with ICE agents and local officials about, he said, quote, "how we can turn down the chaos." And by that, he means the opposition that federal agents are seeing from residents. The White House says the Vice President is going to participate in a roundtable with local leaders and community members to, quote, "focus on restoring law and order in Minnesota." And that roundtable is going to be closed to the public.

Vance is also planning public remarks, though. And of course, Vance, people may remember, previously made remarks about the Minnesota operation in the days following Renee Macklin Good's killing by an ICE agent. Then he blamed Good for causing her own death and insinuated that she was a, quote, "deranged leftist."

And this self-defense claim that Vance and other administration officials have been making appears to be undercut by multiple video analysis of Good's shooting, which shows her car was turning away from Officer Jonathan Ross when he fired those fatal shots at her.

NINA MOINI: All right, Jon, thanks for updating and tracking all of this for us. Appreciate it.

JON COLLINS: Thanks for having me.

NINA MOINI: Jon Collins is a reporter for MPR News.