Anti-ICE agitators who stormed a Minneapolis-area church in January terrorized worshippers, blocked parents from reaching their children and forced congregants to flee during a Sunday service, according to a newly filed federal affidavit.
The affidavit, submitted last week by a Homeland Security Investigations agent, details the Jan. 18 invasion of Cities Church in St. Paul, where a left-wing mob disrupted services while protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
According to the filing, the agitators “intimidated, harassed, oppressed, and terrorized the parishioners, including young children,” turning a worship service into what witnesses described as a frightening and chaotic scene.
The affidavit states the incident “forced parishioners to flee the church out of a side door, which resulted in one female victim falling and suffering an injury.”
Interviews with multiple victim-witnesses paint a disturbing picture of fear inside the church. One congregant told investigators he feared the agitators “may have guns underneath their jackets.”
Another witness said the mob surrounded the building and “made it nearly impossible for parishioners to get out and leave.”
🚨HORRIFYING NEW DETAILS
The invasion of Cities Church was even worse than we thought.
Agitators blocked stairs so “parents were unable to get to their children” at Sunday School.😡
One told a kid, “Do you know your parents are Nazis, they’re going to burn in hell?”
🧵1/7 pic.twitter.com/DUNPRdECGa
— Tyler O’Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 25, 2026
Parents attempting to retrieve their children from the church’s child care area were also blocked, according to the affidavit. One witness said agitators stood on the stairs, preventing access, so “the parents were unable to get their children.”
Several witnesses told investigators the agitators screamed directly at worshippers, including small children. One church member said a protester “continued to scream in the faces of young children while they were crying.”
The fear was so intense that one congregant told agents he thought “this is what it would feel like to be in a mass shooting” and said “his children are traumatized.”
“Victim 6 recalled his child stating to him, ‘Daddy, I thought you were going to die,’” the affidavit states.
Federal investigators say the agitators’ actions went far beyond protest, effectively trapping families inside a house of worship and targeting children in the process.
The incident has drawn renewed scrutiny as activists continue to claim ICE operations “terrorize” illegal immigrants. Investigators say the affidavit shows the opposite dynamic unfolding inside the church, with American families and children bearing the brunt of intimidation and fear.
Homeland Security officials continue to review the incident as part of a broader investigation into coordinated interference with federal law enforcement and attacks on religious institutions.
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