If Minnesota churchgoers expected local prosecutors to protect them after anti-ICE disruptors halted a worship service on Sunday, they might want to think again: A top staffer for Hennepin County’s Soros-backed prosecutor was among the protesters.
Jamael Lundy works as intergovernmental affairs coordinator for Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, is married to St. Paul City Council member Anika Bowie, and is running for a seat in the state legislature as a Democrat, according to his
campaign website.
The Department of Justice is pursuing
federal charges against protesters who disrupted a church service, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has said. In his role in Moriarty’s office, Lundy is the very staffer who would interface with the federal government, including on an existing investigation into Moriarty boasting that she takes into account a suspect’s “
racial identity” when making charging decisions.
Lundy was interviewed by Don Lemon as a group of protesters gathered, holding an upside-down American flag, to plan the takeover of the worship service — inadvertently undermining the point that Lemon was trying to make, which was that the protests were not backed by local officials.
“People are fighting back and organizing, in large part without support from officials, local officials. There are some people who want to be involved, local officials, but they’re doing this all on their own, this is all grassroots,” Lemon said. Pulling a member of the crowd out at random, he asked: “Without giving out what the operation is, why are you out here?”
The man turned out to be Lundy, who answered: “I’m here to support our community activists. I’m currently a candidate for Minnesota State Senate District 65. I feel like it’s important if you’re going to be representing people in office, that you’re out here with the people as well.”
Lemon seemed to ignore what he had said and re-emphasized the opposite point, saying, “The people are organizing on their own, even without representatives or officials, and hoping that everyone gets involved. This is grassroots.”
Lundy replied: “We all we got. I’m actually married to an elected official; I work closely with elected officials, but direct action from the community, certainly within the lines of the law, is so important to show that we have one voice.”
Protesters then stormed the church, leaving people fleeing, with some falling on ice as they raced for the exits. Protesters said they aimed to end the church service, and harangue parishioners, because they believed that a pastor at the church also worked for ICE.
Inside the church, a man who appears to be Lundy can be
seen raising his fist and chanting the name of the pastor followed by “OUT, OUT,” as well as, “Who shut this down? We shut this down.”
One protester said, “This ain’t God’s house, it’s the house of the devil.” Lemon celebrated, saying, “You have to make people uncomfortable in these times. You have to be willing to go into places and make people uncomfortable, that is what this country is about.”
Lemon then interviewed a pastor, who said, “Our church had gathered for worship, which we do every Sunday, and we were interrupted by this group of protesters. We asked them to leave, and obviously they have not left. This is unacceptable, it’s shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship.”
Lundy’s campaign website says that he previously worked for Minnesota House Rep. Carlos Mariani, the Democrat House Caucus Campaign, Congresswoman Betty McCullum, and the state teachers union.
Lundy also founded “Black Operations Public Relations LLC,” and runs a company called “Homes for Homies Property Management LLC,” “providing affordable housing for those struggling with credit and criminal backgrounds.”
The Homes for Homies website says: “He founded this company with the vision of improving housing access to all, but specifically to those with low income, criminal backgrounds, and people of color. Since it’s [sic] founding, home for homies [sic] has grown from a property management company with a goal of removing barriers to housing to a real estate development company centered around expanding housing affordability through expanding housing supply. As Home for Homies continues to expand, its founding values of making profit through making a difference remains [sic].”
On Facebook, he suggests that his “profit” comes from federal Section 8 funds and implies that he would rent homes to illegal immigrants, writing: “It’s become increasingly apparent how much folks are hurting from the economic impact of the lawless federal occupation of the Twin Cities and as a result, I’m seeing the longest vacancy in my tenure as a landlord. For that reason, I am intentionally reducing the price by $300 a month for this 3/4 bedroom listing on the East Side of Saint Paul, far below the normal price I set based off of section 8 guidance. So if your [sic] looking for a deeply affordable 3-4 bedroom unit, without credit or criminal background barriers, open to all residents of all statuses, please contact me via DM.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is
investigating Minneapolis for potentially discriminating by steering federal housing subsidies to “people of color, Indigenous people, and/or immigrant communities.”
The Daily Wire has reached out to Lundy, Moriarty, and Dhillon.
