Did pastor David Easterwood support the Jan 6 protest?
Executive summary
No contemporary reporting in the packet provided shows David Easterwood publicly supporting the January 6, 2021, Capitol protest; the coverage instead documents protests aimed at him in January 2026 because he is identified as both a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul and an acting director of ICE’s St. Paul field office, and because he defended ICE operational tactics in a Jan. 5 court filing [1] [2] [3].
1. What the reporting actually documents about David Easterwood
Multiple outlets say the Cities Church website lists David Easterwood as one of its pastors and that officials and protesters identify him as the acting director of ICE’s St. Paul field office, a dual role that sparked the January 2026 church protest [1] [2] [4].
2. Easterwood’s recorded public stance in these stories — ICE tactics, not January 6
The specific public statement attributed to Easterwood in the reporting is his Jan. 5 court filing in which he defended ICE tactics in Minnesota — including swapping license plates, use of chemical irritants, and the necessity of crowd-control devices like flash‑bangs in the face of alleged threats to agents — a defense tied to litigation over ICE operations, not commentary about the Jan. 6 protest [3] [2] [5].
3. How the January 18, 2026, church protest became conflated with other national stories
When activists including Nekima Levy Armstrong and groups such as Black Lives Matter Minnesota entered Cities Church to protest Easterwood’s alleged ICE role, national attention followed — including arrests and a DOJ vow to investigate the disruption — and media outlets emphasized the pastor/ICE official link and his court filing, which can produce confusion about what he has publicly supported or opposed beyond ICE matters [6] [7] [1].
4. What the reporting does not show: no evidence here of Jan. 6 support
Nowhere in the provided reporting is there an assertion, quote, or document showing Easterwood endorsing, participating in, or otherwise supporting the Jan. 6 Capitol protest; the sources focus on ICE operations, a Jan. 5 filing about crowd-control tactics, protests at a January 18 church service, and subsequent legal and political fallout [2] [3] [1] [4]. That absence is a key finding: lack of coverage is not proof of absence, but it does mean the materials at hand offer no basis to claim he supported Jan. 6.
5. Alternative explanations and potential agendas in the coverage
Coverage comes with competing frames: protesters portray Easterwood’s dual role as hypocritical and dangerous given alleged ICE abuses [7] [8], while some conservative religious figures defended him and broader institutions have emphasized rule‑of‑law arguments surrounding enforcement and church disruption [9]. Media attention to the dramatic church disruption, the arrest of high‑profile participants, and DOJ statements may amplify outrage and blur the distinctions between what Easterwood defended (ICE tactics) and unrelated controversies like Jan. 6.
6. Bottom line — the direct answer
Based on the documents and articles provided, there is no evidence that pastor David Easterwood supported the Jan. 6 protest; the reporting documents his role as a Cities Church pastor and as an ICE field official and records his defense of ICE tactics in litigation, but it contains no statement or allegation tying him to support for the Jan. 6 events [1] [2] [3]. If confirmation on that narrow question is required beyond these sources, further reporting specifically addressing Easterwood’s statements about Jan. 6 would be necessary.