State Representative Nick Kupper (R-25) condemned an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a church service in an X post.
Over the weekend, anti-ICE activists affiliated with the Radical Justice Network and disrupted a Minnesota church service held by Pastor David Eastwood, accusing him of being the acting field director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In footage shared by X user @SteveAustinWI, the person holding the camera, a bearded man, repeatedly accused congregants and Pastor Eastwood of being fake Christians.
State Rep. Kupper, in turn, suggested that the man had previously claimed to be a homeless veteran and was arrested for accosting National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., suggesting the man is a paid protester.
"Isn't this the same homeless 'vet' who got arrested in DC for accosting National Guardsmen? Who flew this guy to Minneapolis?" State Rep. Kupper posted. "Someone should have stopped him. I wouldn't have allowed some deranged man to be threatening & yell in my children's faces at church or anywhere."
The Buckeye-area representative has not yet provided context for his remarks.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon has promised legal action against the protesters, writing on social media, "The @CivilRights is investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers."
President Donald Trump has also threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy federal troops to Minneapolis to restore order, saying, "If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State."
