More arrests have been made in the January ambush by leftist agitators on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, with Attorney General Pam Bondi announcing Monday morning that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had taken Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson into custody. In making the announcement, Bondi commented, “If you riot in a place of worship, we WILL find you.”
A total of nine individuals have now been arrested for ambushing Sunday services at Cities Church on January 18.
If you riot in a place of worship, we WILL find you.
We have made two more arrests in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota: Ian Davis Austin and Jerome Deangelo Richardson.
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) February 2, 2026
The church attack created a national firestorm as outraged Christians and Americans who value freedom of religion decried the aggressive episode that saw the rabidly anti-ICE agitators storm the aisles of the sanctuary, wielding signs and shouting at the service attendees. Children were seen on video crying, and it’s been reported that one congregant was injured fleeing the church. Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s Democrat attorney general, said after the attack that those kinds of incidents are “just something you’ve gotta live with.”
READ MORE: Minnesota’s Muslim AG to Christians: Church Ambushes Are ‘Just Something You’ve Gotta Live With’
Liberal Professor Drops Legal Strategy of Don Lemon on MN Church Invasion
These new arrests come on the heels of livestreamer and fledgling influencer Don Lemon’s arrest last week in Los Angeles for his role in the same incident; Lemon claims to have been at Cities Church that day as a journalist covering a protest, but first-person accounts from congregants dispute that, with some saying Lemon physically blocked their exit from the church. Lemon was released on bond last Friday.
The arrest of a man identified as Ian Austin was caught on video by a news producer outside the Whipple Building in Minneapolis, which houses a Department of Homeland Security detention center for illegals.
FBI arrests man outside the Whipple Building in Minneapolis on Friday who says his name is Ian Austin.
After yelling to bystanders about having done a stream and asking them to contact a lawyer for him, he says, “I was at the church! They want to turn me into a f***ing… pic.twitter.com/wZs41dGQ2y
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) January 30, 2026
FBI arrests man outside the Whipple Building in Minneapolis on Friday who says his name is Ian Austin.
After yelling to bystanders about having done a stream and asking them to contact a lawyer for him, he says, “I was at the church! They want to turn me into a f***ing terr*rist.”
He was likely referring to the Cities Church in St. Paul that Don Lemon was arrested for his involvement in raiding.
Nobody is above the law.
(scrippsnews on TT)
Alongside Lemon, Richardson and Austin, a federal indictment unsealed Friday also named agitators Nekima Valdez Levy-Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen, William Scott Kelly, Trahern Jeen Crews, Jamael Lydell Lundy, and Georgia Ellyse Fort as defendants in the case.
The other individuals involved have been charged with conspiring to violate someone’s constitutional rights and with violations of the FACE Act, the 1994 law that prohibits the use of force, intimidation, or obstruction to deliberately “injure, intimidate, or interfere” with an individual’s ability to exercise their right to religious freedom at a place of worship. The two additional individuals are expected to face the same charges.
The Don Lemon chain gang appears to be expanding.
Editor’s Note: Democrat politicians and their radical supporters will do everything they can to interfere with and threaten ICE agents enforcing our immigration laws.
Help us hold these leftists accountable and expose their obstruction. Join RedState and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
