Transcript

DOJ Probes Church Protesters & ‘Havana Syndrome’ Revelations

From Morning Wire · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 15 min · 2,574 words · 38 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "DOJ Probes Church Protesters & ‘Havana Syndrome’ Revelations", an episode of Morning Wire published January 20, 2026 (15 min, about 2,574 words). It mentions 10 people, works and ideas, including Havana syndrome, Department of Justice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, City's Church, Jonathan Parnell.

What this episode is about

The Department of Justice is investigating the recent disruption of a church service in Minnesota by anti-ICE protesters, focusing on the identities and coordination of those involved. Additionally, new evidence has emerged regarding the "Havana syndrome," suggesting the Pentagon may possess a related futuristic weapon.

Key takeaways

  • When protests invade sacred spaces, free speech meets its match—chaos can drown out faith.
  • The irony: protesting ICE in a church led by an ICE-affiliated pastor highlights the complexity of modern activism.
  • Paid protesters or passionate advocates? The blurred lines of activism can start a new kind of culture war.
  • Children weeping in church—when does political protest overstep the bounds of community respect?
  • Justice or disorder? The DOJ’s investigation into church disruptions raises questions about the limits of 'free speech.'

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 3:00: Havana syndrome, City's Church
  2. – 6:00: Black Lives Matter, Department of Justice, City's Church, Joe Riggnney
  3. – 9:00: Department of Justice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
  4. – 12:00: Havana syndrome
  5. – 14:37: Havana syndrome, Mark Polymerlos

Notable quotes from "DOJ Probes Church Protesters & ‘Havana Syndrome’ Revelations"

  • The DOJ is vowing charges for riers who disrupted a local church service as chaos in Minneapolis continues to escalate.
    about Department of Justice · at
  • Yeah, Georgia. So this unfolded during the Sunday morning worship service at City's Church in St. Paul and that's a Southern Baptist congregation. A group of anti-ICE activists entered the.
    about City's Church · at
  • So, this was simply because they happened to have an ICE official on staff. In fact, lead pastor Jonathan Parnell ultimately had to cancel the service once the children who…
    about Jonathan Parnell · at
  • Now, Pastor Joe Riggnney is actually connected to both of these churches. He was a founder and longtime pastor of City's Church in St. Paul and he also helped plant Christ Church in DC and.
    about Joe Riggnney · at
  • Yes. So, one of the first things Abigail Spanberger did as governor was something she had promised for some time now, which was to end the state police cooperation with Immigration and Customs.
    about Immigration and Customs Enforcement · at
  • Unlikely that these symptoms were caused by any foreign adversary. But it seems there's more to the story. New reports confirm that the Pentagon last year secretly acquired a…
    about Havana syndrome · at
  • By the Pentagon and told that their symptoms were not the result of an attack. To that point, Mark Polymerlos, one of the first CIA officers to go public after experiencing…
    about Mark Polymerlos · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Jonathan Parnell — Person · Referenced local leader (pastor) · 1 mention · first at
    Identified as lead pastor who canceled the church service after disruption, illustrating the impact on congregants and children.
  • William Kelly — Person · Referenced activist (alleged organizer/ringleader) · 1 mention · first at
    Described as a paid protester and ringleader with a history of harassing churches, used to support the claim the disruption was organized.
    Justice Network. So, the same groups who rioted and protested over the death of George Floyd. In fact, one of the ring leaders, as I reported for the Daily Wire, is a paid…
  • Joe Riggnney — Person · Referenced pastor / source · 1 mention · first at
    Cited as connected to both churches mentioned (City's Church and Christ Church DC) and as describing severity of harassment incidents.
  • Mark Polymerlos — Person · Referenced witness/victim (Havana syndrome) · 1 mention · first at
    Quoted as a CIA officer who went public after experiencing Havana syndrome, calling for apology if devices are confirmed.

Companies & orgs

  • Department of Justice — Company · Key organization · 2 mentions · first at
    Investigating protesters who disrupted a church service and vowing charges.
  • Immigration and Customs Enforcement — Company · Key organization · 1 mention · first at
    Target of protesters who disrupted a church service and subject of policy changes in Virginia.
  • Black Lives Matter — Company · Referenced organization · 2 mentions · first at
    Associated with protesters who disrupted a church service in Minnesota.
    Yeah, Georgia, this does look to be somewhat organized. Several of these protesters are associated with groups like Black Lives Matter and the Racial Justice Network. So, the same groups who rioted and protested over the death of.
  • Racial Justice Network — Company · Referenced organization · 1 mention · first at
    Associated with protesters who disrupted a church service in Minnesota.
    Yeah, Georgia, this does look to be somewhat organized. Several of these protesters are associated with groups like Black Lives Matter and the Racial Justice Network. So, the same groups who rioted and protested over the death of.

Concepts & topics

  • Havana syndrome — Concept · Core topic · 6 mentions · first at
    Central theme of the episode, discussing the mysterious ailment affecting US personnel and the Pentagon's investigation.

Places & events

  • City's Church — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at
    Location where anti-ICE activists disrupted a church service, causing fear among children.

Full transcript with timestamps

Renee good. RENE. The DOJ is vowing charges for riers who disrupted a local church service as chaos in Minneapolis continues to escalate.

We are investigating exactly who they are, who coordinated with them, who paid for it, and who was there.

I'm Georgia How with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Tuesday, January 20th, and this is Morning Wire.

Virginia is bracing for a turbulent legislative session as Democrats roll out a slew of controversial bills.

Executive action alone is not enough to deliver lasting relief. We need legislation. And new evidence comes to light about the so-called Havana syndrome with the Pentagon now reportedly owning the futuristic weapon.

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

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netswuite.com/morningwire. The guide is free to you at netswuite.com/morningwire. netsweet.com/morningwire. Federal authorities are investigating after anti-ICE activists stormed a church service in Minnesota. The protesters accompanied by former CNN anchor Don Limon interrupted worship and demanded that congregants condemn ICE.

Joining us with further details is Daily Wire Culture reporter Megan Basham. So Megan, just to start, can you walk us through this scene inside the church?

Yeah, Georgia. So this unfolded during the Sunday morning worship service at City's Church in St. Paul and that's a Southern Baptist congregation. A group of anti-ICE activists entered the sanctuary midservice and they started chanting and shouting accusations and basically demanding that the church members present um condemn ICE.

Why are YOU NOT AT WHIPPLE EVERY DAY FIGHTING FOR THE HUMANITY, STANDING FOR OUR PEOPLE? WHERE ARE YOU? YOU DRINK YOUR COFFEE. You got your jewelry. You have your nice clothes. But what do you do? what what do you do to stand for your Somalian Latino community?

So, the protesters accused the church of supporting ICE because one of their staff pastors also happens to be a field director for ISIS St. Paul office. But I spoke to the founding pastor of this church and several other people associated with it and they told me that this is not what you would think of as a culture waring church. This isn't the kind of church where the pastors make political statements or join demonstrations or anything like that. So, this was simply because they happened to have an ICE official on staff. In fact, lead pastor Jonathan Parnell ultimately had to cancel the service once the children who were there watching the sermon started crying. One source told me that these kids were terrified. So, what do we know about these protesters? Who are they? And was there any kind of organization that put this together?

Yeah, Georgia, this does look to be somewhat organized. Several of these protesters are associated with groups like Black Lives Matter and the Racial Justice Network. So, the same groups who rioted and protested over the death of George Floyd. In fact, one of the ring leaders, as I reported for the Daily Wire, is a paid protester who has a history of harassing churches. William Kelly and his group of activists regularly protest outside Christ Church in DC because war secretary Pete Hegth attends there. For months on end, they have screamed at church members through a bullhorn, doing things like shouting obscenities at church members as they try to enter the sanctuary with their families.

How dare you have a rainbow umbrella, you Nazi. You indoctrinate these children so you could them. Isn't that what it is?

Now, Pastor Joe Riggnney is actually connected to both of these churches. He was a founder and longtime pastor of City's Church in St. Paul and he also helped plant Christ Church in DC and he's preached there as well. And he told me that these attacks in DC have at times been so severe protesters ruptured a church member's eardrum and he had to go to the hospital. Rigy says that these are paid agitators who are basically going to take any excuse they can to protest and harass churches

because of the George Floyd riots. Um the Black Lives Matter organizations were already sort of there and have just kind of been latent and inactive. And then now there's a a new thing that kind of triggered them.

Now, has law enforcement stepped in in any capacity to prevent some of this or is this just considered free speech?

Yeah, so no one has been arrested yet. Local police monitored the protest, but they said that they made no arrests as demonstrators left the building because they were working to balance respect for free speech with the rights of the congregations to freely worship. Don Lemon, former CNN anchor who was with these protesters as they stormed into the church in Minnesota, is also claiming that he was simply there to document free speech. But the Department of Justice feels pretty differently. DOJ Assistant Attorney General Har Dylan told the Daily Wire that Lemon is absolutely wrong. I feel like I have to give a First Amendment 101 primer to people, including journalists like Don Lemon because you don't have a First Amendment right to trespass and invade a house of worship. It's literally illegal to do that and it's not protected by the First Amendment.

Attorney General Pam Bondi also says the DOJ is now investigating these protesters, including Lemon, for violations of federal civil rights laws and the Face Act, which protects worshippers from intimidation. She says that even if Minnesota does not prosecute, federal authorities will.

Well, it would send a message if uh Don Lemon was affected by that. Megan, thanks for reporting.

Yep. My pleasure. Virginia swore in its Democratic slate of leaders over the weekend, including Governor Abigail Spanberger and Attorney General Jay Jones. And they and their congressional counterparts are laying out a heavily progressive agenda for the state.

Daily Wire political reporter Cameron Orcan joins us now to discuss. Welcome Cameron. So Virginia has officially now shifted from a Republican governor's office to a Democratic one and Democrats have control of both houses there. First, there was a major immigration action the new governor Spanberger took right off the bat. What exactly did she do?

Yes. So, one of the first things Abigail Spanberger did as governor was something she had promised for some time now, which was to end the state police cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Now, this was something that Governor Glenn Ynan signed last year when Trump took office to basically foster cooperation between the state police and the federal government when it came to those um deportation efforts. Now, this is largely due to the fact that there's a lot of district attorneys in Northern Virginia who disagree with a lot of the immigration policies of the Trump administration. So what this essentially did was it allowed for another degree of cooperation between the federal and the state government in a way that might have been more difficult under previous leadership. So this is a move toward sort of sanctuary policies away from the cooperation that Glenn Yncan had offered.

Correct. There was also some early action taken by Democrats in the state related to redistricting. What's going on there?

Yes. So, one of the first things Attorney General Jay Jones did um was issue a legal opinion in support of redistricting. Now, the Virginia General Assembly is looking at possibly putting up for a vote mid decade redistricting like we've seen in California and Texas. Now, what this move would do is it would essentially take away four GOP favored seeds um in the state of Virginia as we barrel toward the midterm election. Now, mid- decade redistricting has been very controversial. Um, but obviously this legal opinion is one of the first steps toward um potentially getting the ball rolling for getting Virginia voters to decide whether or not that will move forward in the November election.

We've also seen Democrats in the state propose a number of other pretty significant laws. What other actions are they seeking to take? Another thing that could potentially end up on the ballot, and we've seen this in Arizona and other states, would be a proposed constitutional amendment to guarantee a right to an abortion in the state of Virginia. So, that would be the first and foremost thing. But something to really pay close attention to is now the Democrats have a trifecta in the state. Before there was tension between Yncan and the Democrats in the general assembly, now that there's a trifecta, we could see a whole host of liberal policies being able to make their way through more successfully under the Spamburger administration. So, pay very close attention to what bills we could potentially see making their way through. as you've laid out a lot of drastic changes here proposed by

Democrats now that they're fully in power in the state. Thank you so much for joining us, Cameron.

Thank you. The Pentagon believes it may have solved a decadel long mystery surrounding Havana syndrome, a mysterious ailment impacting US personnel stationed around the world.

Daily Wire senior editor Kat Phillips is here with more. So Kabitt for longtime listeners you've been covering this story for almost five years now and finally we have a few more answers. So can you just uh give us some background of what Havana syndrome is?

Yeah this story is equal parts terrifying and fascinating. Uh as far as we know Havana syndrome started back in 2016. That is when everyone from American military officers to diplomats, CIA agents and even White House staff suddenly began reporting bizarre medical ailments that were consistent with head trauma. Doctors treating the patients said their symptoms were similar to those experienced by football players or car crash victims. But they could not figure out what was causing them. And while the symptoms varied, they all had one thing in common. They started after the victims experienced a sudden and overwhelming high-pitched ringing in their ears. Some said it felt like they'd been hit by an invisible force field. At first, officials thought that these were isolated and natural medical events. They called them quote anomalous health episodes in the government. But as time went on, a clear pattern

emerged. New victims were overwhelmingly coming down with the ailment while working on sensitive diplomatic events across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and especially Cuba, thus the name Havana syndrome. The Pentagon has been tight- lipped about the total number of cases, but reports say that there have been at least 200 victims, some of whom are the small children of diplomats. Others are now permanently disabled and forced to retire, suffering from severe short and long-term memory loss. So you said the Pentagon has been tight-lipped about this, but how have they responded to this possible threat?

So multiple agencies launched independent investigations. The CIA, for example, initially believed the symptoms were being caused by quote direct pulseed radio frequency energy. But last year, the intelligence community concluded their yearslong investigation and determined it was quote very unlikely that these symptoms were caused by any foreign adversary. But it seems there's more to the story. New reports confirm that the Pentagon last year secretly acquired a device that they now believe may be responsible for this ailment after all.

So, this was at the very tail end of the Biden administration. They supposedly purchased or somehow acquired a device that they confirmed does this,

right? So, in the final days of the Biden administration, the Pentagon secretly purchased a device that emits highfrequency pulsed radio waves. Now, we don't know exactly how they got their hands on this thing, but reports say it cost in the 8 figure range and was acquired covertly as part of a quote undercover operation. Presumably, they got it on the black market. The Pentagon has been secretly studying this device for the past year. And get this, according to CNN, it not only is small enough to fit inside of a backpack, it also reportedly contains, you guessed it, Russian components, which lends credibility to the theory that these symptoms were caused by a foreign adversary. And it also gives vindication to victims who say that they were gaslit by the Pentagon and told that their symptoms were not the result of an attack. To that point, Mark Polymerlos, one of the first CIA officers to go

public after experiencing Havana syndrome, told CNN, quote, "If the US government has indeed uncovered such devices, then the CIA owes all the victims a major and public apology for how we've been treated as paras." Now, this was made more interesting by some recent rumors that during the Maduro operation a couple weeks ago, certain people on the ground were experiencing some uh phenomena like this. Tell us about that.

Yeah, here's where it gets maybe even more interesting. Unconfirmed testimony from an alleged Venezuelan security guard uh claimed that he and others guarding Maduro were incapacitated by a quote very intense soundwave that made him and the others quote feel like my head was exploding from the inside. Again, that report was not confirmed, but White House press secretary Caroline Levitt did share it on social media, saying, quote, "Stop what you are doing and read this." Now, for their part, the House Homeland Security Committee launched a new investigation into Havana syndrome, demanding the Pentagon provide them with a quote detailed explanation of the procurement process used to acquire the device along with the results of their study into the device and much more. So, they in Congress, like many other Americans, myself included, have a lot of questions they want answered. Well, and that post on X

that Caroline Levit referred to from the alleged uh security detail officer, it is stunning if you haven't read it yet.

It is sci-fi stuff in real life. Cabbat, thanks for reporting. Absolutely. Thanks for waking up with us. And for those listening to the show, you can also now watch the show free on Daily Wire Plus. We'll be back this evening with the news you need to know.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "DOJ Probes Church Protesters & ‘Havana Syndrome’ Revelations"?

Georgia How (Host), John Bickley (Host), Megan Basham (Guest), Cameron Orcan (Guest), Kat Phillips (Guest).

What is "DOJ Probes Church Protesters & ‘Havana Syndrome’ Revelations" about?

The Department of Justice is investigating the recent disruption of a church service in Minnesota by anti-ICE protesters, focusing on the identities and coordination of those involved. Additionally, new evidence has emerged regarding the "Havana syndrome," suggesting the Pentagon may possess a related futuristic weapon.

What is mentioned in this Morning Wire episode?

10 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Havana syndrome, Department of Justice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, City's Church, Jonathan Parnell, William Kelly. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "DOJ Probes Church Protesters & ‘Havana Syndrome’ Revelations"?

The episode runs 15 min; the transcript is about 2,574 words in 38 timestamped sections.

More from Morning Wire

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.