A federal judge has ordered the release of two Minnesota women who stormed a Minnesota church last Sunday after they were arrested by FBI and Homeland Security agents on Thursday.
US District Judge Laura Provinzino (Biden) ruled that the protesters, Nekima Armstrong and Chauntyll Allen, do not pose a flight risk but must surrender their passports while awaiting trial. Provinzino criticized the Trump administration for providing no factual or legal support for their claim that this was a “crime of violence.”
A video of the women emerging from detention on Friday, raising their fists, was posted online.
The pair were arrested and charged with Conspiracy to Deprive Rights for their involvement in storming Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. If convicted, they each face up to 10 years in prison.
A third activist, William Kelly, who participated in the protest, has also been ordered to be released.
Armstrong, former president of the NAACP in Minneapolis, led a group that entered the church chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good” to protest the church’s pastor’s ties to the local ICE field office.