Photo: GoFundMe
Federal agents arrested Temple University student activist Jerome Deangelo Richardson on Monday (February 2) in connection with the anti-ICE protest that disrupted a service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota — the same incident that has already led to federal cases against multiple journalists and organizers, theGrio reports.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Richardson’s arrest alongside Ian Davis Austin in a post on X, writing: “If you riot in a place of worship, we WILL find you.”
Richardson, 21, is charged in the same case connected to the Cities Church protest, where demonstrators confronted the church’s pastor — David Easterwood — over allegations that he also served as an interim ICE field director.
Federal charges referenced in the case include conspiracy against rights and a count under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
A GoFundMe page supporting Richardson’s legal defense says he turned himself in Monday morning in Philadelphia. The same fundraiser had raised more than $11,000 as of Monday, according to theGrio.
In a video posted before his arrest, Richardson said he helped Don Lemon with “logistics” and “local context” while Lemon traveled to Minneapolis to cover protests tied to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.
Richardson also described the action at the church as a faith-based protest, saying: “This is the price of being unapologetic about humanity and love of Christ. I support the activists who felt compelled to highlight the hypocrisy of how Pastor David Easterwood could simultaneously be a pastor at the church and the local leader of ICE operations. What people are experiencing goes against human and civil rights as well as the teachings of Jesus, who indeed flipped over tables.”
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