Vice President J.D. Vance warned on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s administration will do everything it can to arrest anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activists who attack federal law enforcement officials and storm churches.
Addressing the Trump administration’s current crackdown on illegal immigration in Minneapolis and the surrounding region in Minnesota, Vance said, “Right now we’re focused on Minneapolis because that’s where we have the highest concentration of people who have violated our immigration laws. And that’s also, frankly, where we see the most assault of our law enforcement officers.”
“Our plan is very simple,” Vance added. “If you assault a federal law enforcement officer, we’re going to do everything that we can to put you in prison. It’s very simple.”
The vice president explained that while he disagrees with the political positions of the anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis, most of the protesters have “been peaceful.” However, he noted that many of the anti-ICE protesters in the Democrat-run city have not been peaceful in recent weeks.
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“If you go and storm a church, if you go and assault a federal law enforcement officer, we’re going to try very hard,” Vance said. “We’re going to use every resource of the federal government to put you in prison.”
In the aftermath of the anti-ICE storming of a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday and repeated attacks against ICE officials carrying out federal operations in Minneapolis, Vance reminded protesters to “respect people’s rights” to worship and to carry out their jobs “without being assaulted.”
“If you follow that basic principle, the Trump administration is going to do everything that we can to protect your rights,” Vance added. “But if you go after somebody, if you assault somebody, if you make a nine-year-old girl cry because you walked into a church and harassed her, we’re going to go after you with every single tool that we have.”
Vance’s warning on Thursday came shortly after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested Nekima Levy Armstrong, who is believed to have “played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack” on the Christian church in St. Paul on Sunday.
Bondi also issued a warning to other activists who may be considering future attacks on churches. “Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP,” she stated.