2 activists arrested in protest at St. Paul church released
Two activists arrested in connection to a protest at a church where the leader of a local Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office serves as a pastor were released from custody on Friday afternoon.
The protest happened Sunday, as a group joined the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, before chanting "ICE out" and "justice for Renee Good."
Former Twin Cities NAACP president Nekima Levy Armstrong, St. Paul School Board member Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly were arrested Thursday, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
CBS News learned that Levy Armstrong and Allen were released from law enforcement custody at the Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, Minnesota, on Friday.
The Racial Justice Network, a grassroots organization led by Levy Armstrong, said in a social media post that federal judges ordered the "immediate release" of her and Allen. The group also posted a seven-minute video of Levy Armstrong's arrest.
It's unknown whether officials have ordered Kelly's release.
Bondi cited 18 U.S. Code § 241 in her announcement, and said it pertained to when "two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States."
"I surrendered myself peacefully, deliberately, and with intention," Levy Armstrong said in a written statement about her arrest. "I demanded dignity, humanity, and respect, not just for myself, but for every person who has ever been brutalized, silenced, or disappeared by unchecked government power. We stood in protest because families are being torn apart, communities terrorized, and constitutional rights trampled. And we will not be intimidated into silence."
Levy Armstrong, who is also an ordained minister, wrote about the protest on Facebook, saying, "It's time for judgement to begin and it will begin in the House of God!!!"
Allen and Levy Armstrong both appeared in federal court in St. Paul on Thursday, where they were each charged with violating a civil rights law that prohibits two or more people from conspiring to interfere with constitutionally protected rights, like the free practice of religion. Ultimately, they were both ordered to be released on condition they remain in Minnesota, stay off the church's property and avoid contact with any witness or victim.
But later Thursday, defense attorneys told CBS News that both Armstrong and Allen would not be released pending the Justice Department's plan to appeal and seek their detention.