Irene Kao, the St. Paul city attorney who refused to prosecute protesters who disrupted a church service to target a pastor for working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to disclose that she was suing the pastor for the same reason.
On January 18 of this year, anti-ICE protesters barged into Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, disrupting services with anti-ICE chants. A group of 30-40 agitators “intimidated, harassed, oppressed, and terrorized the parishioners,” according to an affidavit for criminal complaint by the U.S. Justice Department.
“The protesters allege that one of the church’s pastors — David Easterwood — also leads the local ICE field office overseeing the operations,” the Associated Press reported at the time, linking the pastor to ICE:
“The website of St. Paul-based Cities Church lists David Easterwood as a pastor, and his personal information appears to match that of the David Easterwood identified in court filings as the acting director of the ICE St. Paul field office. Easterwood appeared alongside DHS Secretary Kristi Noem at a Minneapolis press conference last October.”
CNSNews has independently confirmed that the same David Easterwood is both the person working with ICE and the Cities Church pastor. Thus, court documents and news reports reveal that:
- City Attorney Kao sued Pastor Easterwood over his work with ICE.
- The protesters stormed the church over Easterwood’s work with ICE.
- City Attorney Kao declined to prosecute the protesters who stormed the church because of Pastor Easterwood’s work with ICE.
Last week on June 2, St. Paul City Attorney Irene Kao announced that the agitators who targeted Pastor Easterwood and disrupted the church service would not be prosecuted because the “evidence is insufficient” – even though the incident was caught on camera.
What Kao did not reveal is that she is in the process of suing Eastwood for his work with ICE – a fact that could have prompted calls for her to pass the case over to another attorney to avoid the appearance of bias.
City Attorney Kao has been suing David Easterwood for his work with ICE ever since January 12, a week before the anti-ICE mob’s invasion of Cities Church, court documents reveal:
- January 12, 2026: A complaint (CASE 0:26-cv-00190) against ICE and border patrol officials is filed in the Minnesota District Court - listing City Attorney Irene Kao among the plaintiffs and “DAVID EASTERWOOD, in his official capacity as Acting Director, Saint Paul Field Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement” as one of the defendants.
- January 20, 2026: An amended complaint is filed, again listing Kao as a plaintiff and Easterwood as a defendant.
- January 31, 2026: A motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in the case (listing the City of St. Paul as a plaintiff and Easterwood as a defendant) is denied by U.S. District Judge Katherine M. Menendez. The TRO would have prevented ICE from continuing its enforcement efforts while the case is litigated.
- June 2, 2026: The court granted plaintiffs until June 10, 2026 to respond to defendants’ motion to stay discovery pending resolution of plaintiffs’ motion to dismiss the case.
The lawsuit by St. Paul City Attorney Kao and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison – which was filed at the peak of the Department of Homeland Security’s “Operation Metro Surge” (December 1, 2025-February 12, 2026) - seeks a court order prohibiting any such immigration law enforcement efforts in the state.
The pro-illegal immigration lawsuit by the city and state seeks to limit the ability of federal agents to detain illegal aliens. It also asks the court to prohibit agents from concealing their identities, a safety measure they take to protect themselves and their families. Additionally, the lawsuit asks the court to force agents to wear conspicuous identification and body cameras.
While the activists who stormed the St. Paul church on January 18 may be off the hook on the local level, they still face federal Justice Department charges of violating laws protecting religious freedom.
