{"id":15164,"date":"2026-01-24T00:33:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T00:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=15164"},"modified":"2026-01-24T00:33:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T00:33:46","slug":"women-arrested-over-anti-ice-church-protest-in-st-paul-freed-from-detention-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=15164","title":{"rendered":"Women arrested over anti-ICE church protest in St Paul freed from detention | Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Allen, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jan\/22\/two-arrests-minnesota-church-protest\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">were arrested and charged<\/a> for their role in an anti-ICE demonstration that disrupted Sunday church services in St Paul, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/minnesota\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Minnesota<\/a>, have been released.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Video of the two women <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DT3tn8GDgAw\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">posted online<\/a> showed them emerging from detention on Friday, raising their fists and embracing their loved ones. \u201cThank you all for being here,\u201d Levy Armstrong said. \u201cGlory to God!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A federal judge <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.mnd.230689\/gov.uscourts.mnd.230689.22.0.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">ordered their release<\/a>, ruling that the government had failed \u201cto meet its burden to demonstrate that a detention hearing is warranted, or that detention is otherwise appropriate\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A judge has also ordered the released of a third activist involved in the church protest, William Kelley, saying he was not a danger to the public, the Minneapolis Star Tribune <a href=\"https:\/\/www.startribune.com\/activists-released-from-custody-after-arrests-tied-to-church-service-disruption\/601569738\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">On Thursday, the White House was caught <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jan\/22\/white-house-ice-protest-arrest-altered-image\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">posting a digitally altered image<\/a> of Levy Armstrong\u2019s arrest on social media, which had been manipulated to falsely portray her as crying, and to darken her skin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The photo was captioned in all caps: \u201cArrested far-left agitator Nekima Levy Armstrong for orchestrating church riots in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/minnesota\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Minnesota<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"ca2084ad-e847-429c-98b8-3a78d581c1c1\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:6,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;White House posts digitally altered image of woman arrested after ICE protest&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;ca2084ad-e847-429c-98b8-3a78d581c1c1&quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jan\/22\/white-house-ice-protest-arrest-altered-image&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;design&quot;:0,&quot;display&quot;:0,&quot;theme&quot;:0},&quot;isInStarRatingVariant&quot;:false}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The deception was uncovered by the Guardian and other news outlets, in part because the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, had earlier posted the original image which showed Levy Armstrong looking composed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">On Friday, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/minnesota-activist-ice-protest-church-video-49faf3efd54e496388651aac1369fb44\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">the Associated Press reported<\/a>, Levy Armstrong released her own video of her arrest recorded by her husband, Marques Armstrong, which further revealed the extent to which the White House had distorted reality to fabricate propaganda intended to embarrass her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">According to a transcription of the video from the AP, Levy Armstrong had even asked the agents why they were recording her detention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cI\u2019m asking you to please treat me with dignity and respect,\u201d she said to the agents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe have to put you in handcuffs,\u201d one agent said, while another held up a phone and appeared to record a video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWhy are you recording?\u201d Levy Armstrong asked. \u201cI would ask that you not record.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIt\u2019s not going to be on Twitter,\u201d the agent filming said. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be on anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe don\u2019t want to create a false narrative,\u201d the agent said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">At no point in the more than seven-minute video \u2013 which shows Levy Armstrong being handcuffed and led into a government vehicle \u2013 did Levy Armstrong appear to cry. Instead, she talked with agents about her arrest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cYou know that this is a significant abuse of power,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I refuse to be silent in the face of brutality from ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cI\u2019m not in here to get in a political debate,\u201d the agent filming said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In an audio message Levy Armstrong\u2019s spokesperson shared with the Associated Press, Levy Armstrong said the video of her arrest exposes that the Trump administration had used AI to manipulate images of her arrest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe are being politically persecuted for speaking out against authoritarianism, fascism and the tyranny of the Trump administration,\u201d said Levy Armstrong, who recorded the message on Friday morning during a call with her husband from jail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script>#Women #arrested #antiICE #church #protest #Paul #freed #detention #Minnesota<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chau&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15164"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}