When anti-ICE protesters staged a protest in a Minnesota church, WorldNetDaily continued its tradition of including the government narrative in its biased coverage. Joe Kovacs wrote in a Jan. 18 article:
A Christian church service was invaded by anti-ICE protesters in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday with former CNN anchor Don Lemon apparently taking part in the disturbance.
Lemon livestreamed the intrusion of Cities Church, a Southern Baptist congregation, as shouts of “ICE out!,” “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “Justice for Renee Good!” echoed through the building. Good was the anti-ICE activist fatally shot by a federal agent this month when she allegedly tried to run over an officer with her vehicle.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not amused, as it shared a clip of the video and stated: “Agitators aren’t just targeting our officers. Now they’re targeting churches, too.
“They’re going from hotel to hotel, church to church, hunting for federal law enforcement who are risking their lives to protect Americans.
“Tim Walz and Jacob Frey are responsible for whipping these mobs into a frenzy and then allowing them to run rampant. We won’t be deterred. ICE isn’t going anywhere.”
[…]The agitators were protesting that one of the church’s pastors is the acting director of the St. Paul ICE field office, having appeared in October on C-SPAN with that title.
Kovacs didn’t explain why the church should not face criticism over that. Instead, he was in full government-narrative mode:
Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the DOJ is investigating the church disturbance.
“The Civil Rights division is investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers,” Dhillon said.
“I’m in touch with Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI. We are all over it. We are investigating potential criminal violations of federal law,” she added.
“A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service. You are on notice!” she exclaimed.
Kovacs parroted more of the government narrative in an article the next day:
The White House and U.S. attorney general are now responding to Sunday’s invasion of a Christian church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, by anti-ICE agitators.
“President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“The Department of Justice has launched a full investigation into the despicable incident that took place earlier today at a church in Minnesota.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced: “I just spoke to the Pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted. Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.
“If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails.”
Kovacs did not quote any source who wasn’t in the Trump administration.
Kovacs followed with even more Trump stenography from the man himself in a Jan. 20 article:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday jumped into the national uproar over Sunday’s invasion of a Minnesota Christian church service by anti-ICE agitators, calling the activists professional troublemakers who should be jailed or “thrown out” of the United States.
“Just watched footage of the Church Raid in Minnesota by the agitators and insurrectionists,” Trump said in an early morning post on Truth Social after attending the national championship football game in Miami Gardens, Florida.
“These people are professionals! No person acts the way they act. They are highly trained to scream, rant, and rave, like lunatics, in a certain manner, just like they are doing.
“They are troublemakers who should be thrown in jail, or thrown out of the Country. The first to go should be Walz, and Fake Sleazebag, Ilhan Omar, who is supposedly worth over $30 Million Dollars, even though she’s never had anything but a Government job. Investigate these Corrupt Politicians, and do it now!”
Kovacs did not allow anyone to rebut Trump. Instead, he devoted a separate article to highlighting one of the more obnoxious protesters:
As the U.S. Department of Justice has vowed to arrest and prosecute the invaders of a Minnesota Christian church Sunday to promote their anti-ICE views, one of the most prominent agitators is taunting the U.S. attorney general to capture him.
“F*** those f***ing Nazis!” shouted William Kelly after storming Cities Church in St. Paul. “Come and get me, Pam Bondi! You f***ing traitorous b*tch!”
Bob Unruh made his own contribution to the narrative in a Jan. 21 article:
Cities Church in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, the Baptist church targeted by violent protesters and rioters who thought they could make an anti-President Trump and anti-national security point by disrupting Sunday worship, has responded.
With a message of peace and hope.
And a warning about pending legal action.
The stunt, featuring personality Don Lemon among others, disrupted the church service in pursuit of “protesting” federal immigration enforcement actions in the region.
Unruh didn’t mention that a church pastor is an ICE official.