Cities Church member sues protesters who disrupted service

Ann Doucette this week filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against a group of people she accused of disrupting her church’s Sunday service. The group on Jan. 18 entered Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., during a service. Social media videos of the incident seemed to show the protesters block aisles, chant slogans, and confront churchgoers. Doucette, a member of the church, accuses the protesters of interfering with her ability to worship and causing emotional distress and trauma, in her complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for Minnesota.

The protest occurred during controversial federal law enforcement operations in the Twin Cities area. The group, which was protesting against immigration law enforcement, said that one of the pastors at the church worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Defendants named in the lawsuit include media figure and former CNN anchor Don Lemon, protest organizer Nakima Levy Armstrong, and St. Paul school board member Chauntyll Allen. Most of the defendants did not appear to have made public comments on the lawsuit by Friday, though one, Trahern Crews, told NBC News that he denied the allegations.

Doucette asked the court to award her damages for emotional distress, fear, and trauma and to order the defendants to pay attorneys’ fees. Her complaint did not state how much money she sought. She also asked for an order restraining defendants from entering Cities Church or otherwise disrupting religious activities.

Is this lawsuit separate from the federal lawsuit over the protest? The Department of Justice filed a separate lawsuit against protesters soon after the incident. Federal officials charged some of the group with federal felonies for conspiring to deprive people of their constitutional rights, as well as misdemeanors under the FACE Act. Lemon, Levy-Armstrong, and several other co-defendants recently pleaded not guilty to those federal charges. Lemon has argued he was in the building as a journalist rather than participating as a protester. 

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ original report on the protest along with witness testimony.