A political agitator who helped disrupt a Minnesota church service on Sunday has been identified by multiple church members in Washington, D.C. as the same man who has spent months harassing families outside their place of worship.
Chaos Erupts During Minnesota Church Service
The disturbance erupted when anti-ICE protesters marched into the sanctuary of Cities Church in the Twin Cities area, shouting accusations that one of the pastors was the acting director of ICE’s St. Paul field office. Their chants of “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good” echoed through the service as stunned congregants looked on.
Among the group was a man churchgoers recognized as William Kelly, known online as “DaWokeFarmer,” a TikTok personality with more than 66,000 followers who routinely posts profanity-filled videos attacking ICE, President Donald Trump, and senior officials.
DC Members Say Harassment Has Gone on for Months
At Christ Church in Washington, D.C., where Secretary of War Pete Hegseth worships, members say Kelly has become a disruptive fixture outside the building. One congregant, who requested anonymity, said he instantly recognized Kelly from the Minnesota footage.
“William Kelly is a regular outside our church, he screams incredibly vile and gross things at families, at children at people, he’s called my wife a c—, a whore and a Nazi breeder, all sorts of fun things,” the member said.
Churchgoers told reporters that Kelly’s identity was confirmed after six months of “social media sleuthing.”
They added that Kelly was arrested by the United States Secret Service in December after a confrontation caught on video in which he berated a man as a “Nazi” and demanded to know who he voted for. In a recent TikTok, Kelly claimed the Secret Service is “moving forward with disorderly conduct charges.” The agency did not respond to requests for comment.
Families Say They Simply Want to Worship in Peace
Members of Christ Church say the situation has been distressing, particularly for children.
“It’s been a good education for my children to understand what type of people use these words,” the congregant said.
Another member noted that Kelly first began appearing outside the church in September or October. “Since he was arrested by the Secret Service in early December, he’s been on a road trip, out and about,” the person said.
Although Metro Police have kept worshipers physically safe, congregants say Kelly has not been successfully prosecuted.
Pastor Confirms Identity of Aggressive Protester
Christ Church associate pastor Joe Rigney said he had no doubt that the individual who disrupted the Minnesota service was the same man who had been confronting families in D.C.
“We’ve had regular protests at our D.C. services for the last few months, a combination of paid, professional agitators, as well as people who just show up periodically. We became aware of William Kelly because through that, he was one of the regular protestors each week,” Rigney said.
“Kelly stood out because he was one of the more aggressive, angry, vile, profane protesters who would follow people to their car, yell at them, yell at children… profanity-laden attacks on normal church members,” he continued. “When we saw the video come out of Cities Church in St. Paul, our security team flagged it for me and said, ‘That’s the same guy.’”
Rigney noted that while Kelly has not directly confronted Hegseth during services, the church did work with security teams and law enforcement to identify him.
Federal Officials Also Identify Kelly
Justin Overbaugh, the deputy under secretary of War for Intelligence and Security, also pointed to Kelly online after the Minnesota disruption.
“Ahhh I see DaWokeFarmer a.k.a William Scott Kelly, is harassing parishioners in MN. We’ve missed him outside @ChristKirkDC stalking us after service,” Overbaugh wrote on X.
“This has been going on for months,” he added. “While MPD provides security, they take no action when the mob uses bullhorns to disrupt services, which is in clear violation of the law.”
Kelly did not respond to a message on TikTok.
Fundraising, Protests, and Rising Tensions
Kelly’s TikTok account links to a GoFundMe page identifying him as William Kelly. “Road Trip!! Help me travel the Nation scolding the gestapo for their bad decisions! No rest for demons! Our goal is to encourage people to stand up for what’s right across the nation! Stand up For Humanity,” he wrote. The fundraiser has collected more than $40,000.
The Minnesota protests came amid renewed outrage following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent. The Trump administration has maintained that Good attempted to ram the agent’s vehicle before the agent opened fire.
Protesters argue that one of Cities Church’s pastors, David Easterwood, also leads ICE’s local field office and is responsible for harsh tactics and unlawful arrests. Easterwood was inside the church when the group entered. The Justice Department has said it is investigating the incident.
Kelly Defends Actions in Profanity Filled Video
On Monday, Kelly addressed the Minnesota confrontation directly.
“Yesterday, I went into a church with [activist] Nekima Armstrong, and I protested these White supremacists. The pastor of the church is a f—ing ICE leader in the city. How can you be a f—ing pastor and be a f—ing agent? F— ‘em, they wanna come after me? F— ‘em,” he said.
“How can they live so comfortably while the f—ing people from Somalia that are in this country legally, they have f—ing citizenship, can’t even go to their mosque and pray,” he continued. “How do they deserve any f—ing different? F— those f—ing Nazis. Come and get me, Pam Bondi, you f—ing traitorous b—-.”
