Overview
- Emily Phillips, 33, saw her case dismissed Monday after a judge found no probable cause for charges filed following her Easter Sunday arrest outside Cities Church.
- St. Paul police say officers on contracted overtime warned a group using a blow-horn to stop disrupting services and arrested one person for interference when others complied.
- Protesters dispute that account and say Phillips had turned off speakers, stayed off the street, and was recording before officers took her into custody.
- Phillips spent the night in the Ramsey County Jail and was released after the hearing, and prosecutors were told they could refile with a proper complaint.
- Cities Church has drawn weekly demonstrations since January, when a protest tied to Pastor David Easterwood’s ICE role led to nearly 40 federal charges under the FACE Act that legal experts say may be on shaky ground.