The ICE Director Who Preaches on Sundays and Defends Tear Gas on Weekdays

DOJ is investigating the people who confronted him at church. They’re not investigating the agent who killed Renee Good.

Jan 21, 2026

The acting director of ICE’s St. Paul field office—the man overseeing Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis—preaches at a Southern Baptist church on Sundays.

On weekdays, David Easterwood defends tear-gassing protesters in federal court filings. On Sundays, he’s a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul.

This week, protesters confronted that dual role. Within hours, DOJ announced it was investigating—the protesters.

The Discovery

Activist and attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong made the connection: the David Easterwood named in the ACLU’s December lawsuit—the man who appeared alongside Secretary Noem at press conferences, who defended flash-bang grenades in court filings—was listed as a pastor on the website of Cities Church in St. Paul.

“For me, it registered with his name being in that lawsuit, researching him, seeing him at a press conference with Kristi Noem... and then seeing him listed as a pastor of the church, finding a sermon online,” Armstrong told the Minnesota Star Tribune.

She moved fast. On Sunday morning, approximately 30 protesters entered Cities Church on Summit Avenue during services. They chanted “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good.”

Lead pastor Jonathan Parnell stood at the pulpit. “Shame on you!” he shouted.

Armstrong addressed the congregation directly: “How dare you claim to be a pastor of God and you are involved in evil in our community.”

Easterwood wasn’t present. But his dual role was now public.

“This man is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Armstrong said, “masquerading as a pastor.”

Who Is David Easterwood?

David Easterwood serves as the acting field office director for ICE’s St. Paul office, overseeing Enforcement and Removal Operations across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska. He is also a pastor at Cities Church.

On October 24, 2025, Easterwood appeared alongside Secretary Noem at a Minneapolis press conference. He praised his officers:

“The men and women of ERO St. Paul embody the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and dedication. Every day, they face complex challenges with determination and resolve.”

On January 5, 2026—two days before the shooting—Easterwood filed a declaration in federal court defending ICE’s tactics in Minnesota, including the use of chemical irritants and flash-bang grenades as “important to protect against violent attacks.” He testified that he was unaware of agents “knowingly targeting or retaliating against peaceful protesters or legal observers.”

Two days later, Jonathan Ross—a deportation officer based out of Easterwood’s St. Paul field office—shot Renee Good through her windshield as she turned away from him.

When Ross’s identity became public, his 80-year-old father rushed to defend him. His first words: “He’s a committed, conservative Christian, a tremendous father, a tremendous husband.”

Not “experienced officer.” Not “decorated veteran.” The father’s instinct was to lead with Christian identity.

Renee Good’s last words: “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.”

Ross fired three times in 698 milliseconds.

The Curriculum

What makes this significant isn’t that one federal official is also a pastor. It’s what Cities Church teaches.

The church’s official men’s ministry curriculum explicitly cites Douglas Wilson—the Moscow, Idaho pastor whose Christian nationalist movement now has direct ties to the Trump administration.

From the church’s “Masculine Agency” teaching, delivered by lead pastor Jonathan Parnell:

“I appreciate Doug Wilson’s definition of manhood. He says manhood is to gladly assume sacrificial responsibility.“

But the curriculum goes further. Drawing from Leon Podles’s research on masculinity, the church teaches:

“To be masculine, a man must be willing to fight and inflict pain, but also to suffer and endure pain. He seeks out dangers and tests of his courage and wears the scars of his adventures proudly.”

Another teaching, “The Watchful Man,” uses martial language:

“We watch and pray. We dig in our heels and keep our hand close to the holster.“

“Watchfulness means we keep our hands close to the holster of God’s truth.“

This is the church where David Easterwood pastors. This is the theology informing the man who testified that flash-bang grenades are “important to protect against violent attacks.”

In “Here Am I, Send Me,” I quoted former Border Patrol agent Jenn Budd’s warning about Christian Nationalist infrastructure within CBP:

“There are many Christian churches along the border who teach this type of extremist Christian ideology. These churches cater to law enforcement, especially Border Patrol. They are xenophobic, Christian Nationalists who engage in men-only violent revivals that last for days. They preach that immigrants are invaders, and that immigration agents are heroes enforcing God’s will.”

Cities Church curriculum is the proof. David Easterwood is the organizational link.

The Network

Cities Church is not a random congregation. It was planted in 2014 by Joe Rigney, David Mathis, and Jonathan Parnell—all elders at John Piper’s Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis.

Rigney resigned from Bethlehem College and Seminary in 2023 over what the board called a “divergence of vision”—specifically, his support for Christian nationalism and his ties to Douglas Wilson.

Wilson is no fringe figure. His 1996 pamphlet “Southern Slavery, As It Was” argued that slavery produced “genuine affection between the races.” Historians compared his claims to Holocaust denial. The Southern Poverty Law Center connects his theology to neo-Confederate movements.

His influence has since reached the Cabinet. In 2025, Wilson planted a church blocks from the U.S. Capitol; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attended the opening. Wilson was a featured speaker at the 2025 National Conservatism Conference alongside border czar Tom Homan. At a church conference that year, Rigney—Cities Church’s co-founder—joked: “We want our wives to be barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen making sourdough.”

The network runs from Piper’s Minneapolis megachurch through Bethlehem’s seminary to Wilson’s movement directly into the Trump administration.

David Easterwood pastors at a node in that network. On weekdays, he runs ICE.

The Asymmetry

Within hours of Sunday’s protest, DOJ announced it was investigating—the protesters.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted on social media that her agency was investigating “federal civil rights violations by these people desecrating a house of worship.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi personally called Pastor Parnell. The White House issued a statement: “President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship.”

DOJ is protecting the church of the man who runs ICE.

Meanwhile, ICE has raided churches serving immigrants with no investigation. In Charlotte in November, masked federal agents arrived at a church while congregants did yard work after Saturday service. They detained one member—a man who had just delivered the message that day—and sent others fleeing into nearby woods. A 15-year-old witness: “We thought church was safe.”

The sensitive locations policy protecting churches from immigration enforcement was rescinded on January 21, 2025—Trump’s first full day in office.

DOJ investigates protesters at Easterwood’s church. DOJ does not investigate raids that disrupted services at churches serving immigrants.

What His Agents Say Now

The culture has consequences.

Patty O’Keefe is a 36-year-old resident of South Minneapolis. She lives eight blocks from where Good was killed. On January 11, she was observing ICE activity in her neighborhood when agents surrounded her vehicle, pepper-sprayed into her car, broke both front windows, and dragged her out.

In custody, they taunted her. One agent showed a photo of her to others; they laughed. Then came the threat.

“The agent who had sprayed the pepper spray into my car proceeded to say, ‘You guys got to stop obstructing us. That’s why that lesbian bitch is dead.’”

O’Keefe testified to this at a congressional hearing organized by Representatives Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal.

A disabled Marine Corps veteran reported agents telling him: “Have you not learned? This is why we killed that lesbian bitch!”

When CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Secretary Noem about video capturing an agent calling Good “fucking bitch” immediately after she was shot, Noem pulled her lips into a quick smile as she finished her answer.

The curriculum teaches men to be “willing to fight and inflict pain.”

The agents are willing.

Friday

A general strike has been called for January 23. No school. No work. No shopping.

Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools have moved to online classes through February. ICE agents tear-gassed students at Roosevelt High School on January 7—the same day Renee Good was killed.

1,500 soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska are on standby for possible deployment under the Insurrection Act.

Vice President Vance arrives in Minneapolis on Thursday.

The same day this piece publishes, DOJ served grand jury subpoenas to Governor Walz, Attorney General Ellison, Mayor Frey, and others—demanding records related to federal immigration enforcement. The investigation alleges “conspiracy to impede federal law enforcement.”

And David Easterwood—the acting ICE director who testified two days before the shooting that he was unaware of agents “targeting or retaliating against peaceful protesters or legal observers”—will presumably be back in church on Sunday.

The curriculum says to keep your hand close to the holster.

His agents have been listening.

Mark Ramm is an investigative journalist and publisher of The RAMM on Substack.