A North Carolina pastor is drawing a firm line against left-wing agitators who believe they can turn Christian worship services into political battlegrounds.
According to the Daily Caller, the warning came after an anti-ICE protester stormed a Minnesota church service and turned the sanctuary into a stage for radical theatrics. Anti-ICE activist William Kelly barged into the church, berated law enforcement officers present, shouted traitors and demanded to know, How does it feel to protect a pedophile?
The incident, cheered on by some progressive activists who routinely demonize police and immigration enforcement, has sparked outrage among believers who see it as a direct assault on religious liberty.
From his own pulpit, the Rev. Patrick L. Wooden, Sr. made it clear that such behavior would not be tolerated in his church and singled out media figures who have amplified or excused these disruptions. Yall see where them people invaded that church the other day? Now, I just want to say to protesters and all of them, dont do that here. Don Lemon. Dont come here, the pastor said. His remarks underscored a growing frustration among conservatives who see liberal media personalities as enabling mob tactics against institutions that stand for traditional values, law enforcement, and national sovereignty.
Lemon had streamed footage of rioters disrupting the Minneapolis church service, where demonstrators opposed immigration enforcement and targeted ICE. He later defended his actions, insisting he had no ties to the group and merely followed protesters to the church, a claim that does little to reassure those who watched a sacred space turned into a spectacle. For many churchgoers, the episode symbolized how far activist rage has gone, with houses of worship treated as fair game in the broader campaign against border security and those who uphold it.
Rev. Wooden reminded his congregation that their church was not a political prop but the product of years of sacrifice and devotion. You roll up in this church doing stuff like that, and its going to be the royal rumble. And the funny thing is, Im not joking. We have worked hard. We built the church in the name of the Lord. We dedicated it to the Lord, Wooden said. Its built for worship. Our blood, sweat, tears, and finances are in this place. His words reflected a deeply held conservative conviction: that faith communities have the rightand the dutyto defend their sanctuaries from those who would trample religious freedom in the name of political theater.
The pastor further warned that anyone attempting to replicate the Minnesota disruption at his church would face swift consequences. Some people who have never darkened the door of the church and never contributed one dime to it, going to roll up in here and disturb our service and scare our children and shout obscenities in the church. That will not stand in this church. That will not stand. Thats not going to stand. So I thought Id bring that up just in case theres somebody out there who is thinking [about it]. Thats not going to stand, Wooden added.
His stance stands in stark contrast to the permissive attitude of many progressive leaders who routinely excuse or downplay left-wing disruptions when the targets are churches, pro-life centers, or law enforcement.
Authorities, however, are not treating the Minnesota incident as harmless activism. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Kellys arrest in a Thursday post on X, describing the protest as an assault on congregants religious freedom and noting that multiple arrests were made in connection with the disruption.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said prosecutors charged Kelly with conspiracy to deprive rights and violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which bars obstruction of houses of worship and other protected facilities. Her post included an image of masked federal agents restraining Kelly as he wore a F*ck Trump beanie and a yellow vest, a stark visual reminder of how hatred for President Trump and his policies has curdled into open hostility toward the institutionslike the church and the rule of lawthat anchor American civil society.
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