by Hudson Crozier
An anti-deportation protester who dared Attorney General Pam Bondi to arrest him for crashing a Sunday church in Minnesota is now in custody, Bondi said Thursday.
William Kelly (pictured above) was seen on video with a crowd invading and loudly disrupting a service at Cities Church in St. Paul over allegations that the pastor worked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Bondi described the protest as an attack on congregants’ religious liberty and announced multiple related arrests, including Kelly’s, in Thursday X posts.
“So, you know, Pam Bondi, you want to come and arrest me? You want to come and give me charges? So be it,” Kelly previously said in a video interview after the Sunday protest.
“Ok,” Bondi responded in a Thursday post.
Kelly is charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a law that criminalizes obstructing houses of worship and other facilities, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X. Her post showed an image of masked federal agents restraining Kelly while he wore a “F*ck Trump” beanie and yellow vest.
“As you can see, all these pretend Christians, all these comfortable white people who are living lavish, comfortable lives while children are dragged into concentration camps…” Kelly shouted at churchgoers during the Sunday protest, footage shows. The anti-ICE mob remained in the church after a pastor asked them to leave for disrupting the service.
Kelly, who goes by “DaWokeFarmer” online and has a significant following on platforms like TikTok, has described himself as a “combat infantry veteran” in videos tied to his activism, including during the church protest where he positioned himself as a “patriot” defending human dignity against ICE actions.
However, online discussions and reports have questioned aspects of his military service record. Coverage indicates Kelly served in the U.S. Army from 2007 to 2011 in a non-combat administrative role (Human Resources Specialist, MOS 42A), with no confirmed deployments or combat experience, though no official military documents have been publicly released to confirm or refute specifics. Kelly has not commented directly on these claims amid his arrest.
Kelly faces separate disorderly conduct charges over a December incident at the White House, where he was accused of harassing police, pedestrians and families waiting in line for a tour, court records show. He allegedly followed, filmed and heckled the victims, calling them Nazis and yelling obscenities.
Earlier on Thursday, Bondi announced the arrests of race activists Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen in the Minnesota church case.
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Hudson Crozier is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Tennessee Star Executive Editor Christina Botteri contributed to this report.
Photo “William Kelly Arrest” by DHS Sec Kristi Noem.
