While anti-ICE insurgents stormed into Cities Church in St. Paul on Sunday, there was another anti-Christian disturbance happening outside of a church in Washington, D.C., where leftist agitators screamed obscenities and threatened young Christian families as they left Sunday services.
At roughly the same time on Sunday when the hoard of disrupters — including Don Lemon — burst into a worship service in St. Paul, agitators in D.C. were screaming “F-ck off, Nazi scum” at moms and kids as they left Christ Church on Pennsylvania Avenue. Christ Church in D.C. is an offshoot of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, which is led by Pastor Doug Wilson. The D.C. congregation has routinely garnered the attention of left-wing agitators since its first worship service last year, which was attended by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
As I got close to the demonstration on Sunday, I finally made out what the anti-Christian crowd was chanting: “Kirk Church, abort Christ.” Once inside the Starbucks at the corner of Pennsylvania and 3rd Street, I watched as families with young children came out of Sunday worship and were subject to a bullhorn-wielding person screaming “F-ck Jesus, Mary, and Joseph” with a gravely, demonic-sounding tone.
During the time the rabble-rousers were shrieking their insults at believers, Pennsylvania Avenue was lined with Metropolitan Police. There was no physical violence, and the provocateurs remained on the other side of the street from the church.
Yet it seemed unclear where exactly the authorities would draw the line. When one of the bullhorn-wielding agitators screamed that the worshipers should jump out of the window to their death, that was apparently permissible. The implicit message seems to be that it is permissible in Muriel Bowser’s D.C. to harass, threaten, and scream obscenities at young Christian families going to and from religious services.
Even though no one was killed and no buildings were burnt to the ground, what happened in St. Paul and in Washington, D.C., on Sunday was not “peaceful protests.” Protests are supposed to be aimed at the government, not citizens worshiping God on Sunday morning. What Americans witnessed last weekend were leftist agitators terrorising ordinary people — including young children — as they came out of church in order to intimidate Christians and make them feel unsafe.
The connection between the disturbances in Washington and St. Paul was more than symbolic. There was also an overlap of personnel. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced on X that William Kelly was arrested and charged with violating the FACE Act for his role in storming Cities Church last Sunday. Kelly was also reportedly known to regularly verbally assault Christians and conservatives outside of Christ Church and The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.
Federal law enforcement agents also arrested two other anti-ICE agitators who invaded Cities Church, Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen. A federal judge whose wife works in Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office refused to approve a complaint bringing charges against Lemon.
The anti-Christian harassments this past weekend demonstrate that the left is not interested in “peaceful protests,” and certainly not toleration. The agitators outside of Christ Church in D.C. accosted Christians simply for being Christians. They taunted Jesus Christ and His mother, and screamed “F-ck you” at little kids as they walked out of church. That is not peaceful, nor is it actually protesting.
These attacks on Christian worship went far beyond the peaceful assembly of patriotic citizens. The First Amendment links peaceful assembly to “petition[ing] the Government for a redress of grievances.” Accosting churchgoers as they leave church services is not petitioning the government for a redress of grievances. If the rabble-rousers were screaming outside of the Capitol — a mere two blocks away — that would be one thing, but instead, they chose to scream at young Christian families on a Sunday morning.
What exactly were the D.C. agitators’ demands? Other than their general disdain for President Trump and Christians, it was very unclear what exactly they were “protesting.” Their only clear objective seemed to be harassing and intimidating faithful Christians.
On a spiritual level, it is sad to consider the personal lives of these agitators. They, too, have souls and will one day stand before their Maker. And here they were, on a Sunday morning, dressed in Handmaid’s Tale costumes, screaming filthy obscenities at families who worship the God who loves them. The entire scene is a tragedy, and these agitators need Christians’ prayers and love. However, the least loving thing Christians can do is passively observe leftists invading churches, blaspheming God, and harassing families and label it all as “free speech.”
As we approach midterm elections, the conservative coalition should be very clear: For the good of families — and also for the good of the agitators’ souls — we will not tolerate a “protest culture” that hides behind the right of free speech as leftists scream obscenities at women and children as they come out of church. More prominent conservatives should call out the sinister childishness and perversion of the left’s insurgency groups that rely on intimidation and harassment, and no conservative should fall for the lie that such demonstrations are free speech.
If Americans want these kinds of actions to be purged from public life, elected officials need to wield the power given to them by the people. That means enforcing public decency laws and other statutes to vigorously defend churches like Christ Church in D.C. and Cities Church in St. Paul against these kinds of blasphemous, disruptive, and blatantly anti-Christian demonstrations.
