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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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Chauntyll Allen, a member of the St. Paul School Board and co‑founder of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, told Newsweek she was “treated like a violent criminal” after her arrest by federal authorities following a protest inside Cities Church.
On January 18, demonstrators interrupted the Southern Baptist congregation’s worship service to challenge the pastor, David Easterwood, over his reported ties to federal immigration enforcement. Protesters chanted “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good,” referring to the mother of three who had been fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer earlier that month.
The protest occurred before the killing of another U.S. citizen in Minneapolis, 37-year-old Alex Pretti.
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Easterwood, listed as a pastor on the church’s website, is also identified in public records as the acting field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in St. Paul, according to the Associated Press.
Church materials show him among the pastoral staff, and in October, he appeared alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Minneapolis news conference, introducing himself in that role. Easterwood has worked with ICE since at least 2015, advancing from deportation officer to supervisory and senior positions, before becoming deputy and later acting director of the St. Paul field office.
“As a Christian, I am appalled by the double standards [Easterwood is] displaying. Overseeing a deadly terror operation without any accountability and then standing before the people and preaching the word of God, which is Love itself, is hypocrisy," Allen told Newsweek in an exclusive interview.
Allen's wife, Satara Strong‑Allen, told Newsweek she was also detained the morning Allen was arrested, adding that she was allegedly "tackled by federal agents."
The Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, with which Cities Church is affiliated, condemned the protest, saying in a statement that protesters had "interrupted the service to demand the congregation denounce the federal government's immigration enforcement, specifically targeting the role of Pastor David Easterwood as a field office director for ICE."
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Why Was Chauntyll Allen Arrested?
Four days later, on January 22, federal officials announced arrests in connection with the protest, citing potential violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which criminalizes intentional obstruction of religious services and other protected access to facilities. Among those taken into custody were Allen and civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong. Both were later released pending further proceedings.
Multiple defendants—including Allen—have entered not guilty pleas in U.S. District Court.
In the weeks that followed, multiple defendants connected to the event were brought before the U.S. District Court in St. Paul. On February 13, several individuals, including former CNN journalist Don Lemon, Levy Armstrong, Allen, and others, entered not‑guilty pleas to federal charges stemming from the protest.
What Did Chauntyll Allen Say About Her Treatment by ICE?
When asked to describe how she was taken into custody, Allen said federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE approached her directly.
"They said, 'You’re Chauntyll Allen. You’re under arrest.' I told them I needed to see a judicial warrant, and my lawyers also started demanding a warrant. They ignored us and pushed me into an elevator, and took me downstairs," she told Newsweek.
A Department of Justice spokesperson told Newsweek: “This was not a protest, but rather a targeted and coordinated assault on a local church and its peaceful parishioners exercising their right to worship. These individuals are now facing the consequences for their criminal actions, and any suggestion that proper procedures were not followed during their arrests is false.”
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Allen said her lawyer also joined her in the elevator, but that agents produced the wrong name on a document, using a warrant for Levy Armstrong instead of her own.
"I told him that wasn’t my name, and he just said, 'We have a warrant for you,' as he put me into the car," Allen said.
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Once in custody, Allen alleged that the officers did not initially know where to take her, driving first toward Minneapolis City Hall, then misrouted via GPS to St. Paul City Hall. She says she directed agents to the correct federal courthouse.
At the courthouse, she says she was held in the car until additional ICE agents arrived so they could photograph her.
"They had placed me in shackles at that point and, once I got inside, they took pictures, fingerprints, and DNA. I was still asking for a warrant at this point, and they finally brought me a piece of paper with my name on it, but not what I was charged with," Allen said.
From St. Paul, Allen and Levy Armstrong were transported to Sherburne County Jail near St. Cloud, shackled with arms and legs attached to a waist chain in the back of a Suburban with no usable seat belts, she said. She called the ride “reckless” and unsafe. At the jail, she endured a body scanner and strip search, losing all her clothes and undergarments, even though she had already been searched at the federal facility.
She described her blood pressure spiking and alleged that her requests for basic medical care, including aspirin for pain, went unanswered.
"They treated us like we were really violent criminals," Allen said.
One of the moments Allen describes as most "frightening" was being moved by U.S. Marshals into a room full of DHS and ICE agents who took multiple photographs of her.
"It ended up being a room full of DHS and ICE agents, and they all started taking trophy pictures with me. It was scary because the U.S. Marshals would just leave me in the room with them, and I didn’t know what they would do. I was really unsure about my safety throughout the process," Allen said.
Allen said the ordeal compounded previous threats she had received as an activist.
"As a Black liberation activist and advocate for police accountability, I’ve gotten plenty of death threats in the past, but, with the federal administration stoking the fire, portraying exercising our First Amendment rights as a crime, these death threats feel different," Allen said.
"The way they’re portraying peaceful protesters in this moment is opening the door for people to unleash evil towards what they don’t like or understand.
Since her release, she said she and her wife have been “vigilant” at home, watching for unrecognized cars and taking precautions to ensure safety.
She also said she is using community and healing practices such as music, breathing techniques, and laughter to process the experience.
"I’m really trying to take the time to process the moment, to genuinely think about where we are in America and where we want to go," Allen said.
On her actions at the church, she said it was her civic responsibility:
"It’s every adult’s responsibility to protect our children. Any time we see things happening in the community that are negatively impacting young people, we need to step in and have a conversation with the perpetrator and interrupt the harm being done," Allen said.
Satara Strong‑Allen Speaks Out
Allen’s wife, Satara Strong‑Allen, recounted the events of the morning of the arrests. Early that day, Strong‑Allen said she was detained in a hotel hallway by federal agents.
"Federal agents tackled me, knocking my head against the wall, and putting me in handcuffs. I know my rights, so I immediately started asking for a judicial warrant and saying this is illegal," she told Newsweek.
"They showed me a warrant with Nekima’s name on it. As they transported me, I continued to say, “That’s not who I am,” but they took me to the Whipple building," she added.
She said she had no identification on her at the time, but memorized her driver’s license number to help agents confirm her identity before eventually being released later that morning. Strong‑Allen was held in an interrogation room with two HSI agents from about 2:30 to 5 a.m. before being told she would be released and not charged.
A few hours later, she learned from a friend that her wife had been arrested. She said her immediate reaction was fear for Allen’s safety.
"My sense of security is really low now. I know that we—community—keep us safe, but I also know firsthand that they are literally disregarding any kind of rules. We know we’re still under high surveillance, so my sense of safety is really compromised," Strong‑Allen said.
"As frontline organizers, we’ve always focused on leading with love—in fact, our non-profit is called Love First—and building up a village response to injustice. So it’s been really endearing to see that work, that solidarity, coming full circle to support us in this moment," she said.
Update 2/23/26, 9:05 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from the Department of Justice.
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