Rights Activist With Controversial Past Leads Religious Site Disruption

A civil rights lawyer and self-described “scholar-activist” who reportedly organized a demonstration at a religious facility in the northern region has previously expressed support for a convicted militant figure, according to local reports.

Nekima Levy Armstrong, who according to her website practices civil rights law, allegedly helped coordinate the disruption at Cities Church in a northern city on Sunday. The demonstration was reportedly connected to protests against the nation’s immigration enforcement agency.

Armstrong posted documentation of the protest, which she referred to as “our demonstration.” The footage showed dozens of demonstrators entering the religious facility and chanting slogans opposing the immigration agency. Armstrong claimed that a religious leader associated with the institution is also connected to immigration enforcement activities.

In her social media post, she wrote, “It’s time for judgment to begin and it will begin in the House of God!”

Armstrong, a former law professor who transitioned to full-time activism, has reportedly expressed what observers describe as progressive political views on her social media platforms. She has also been identified as a key organizer of boycotts against a major retailer over its decision to scale back diversity and inclusion programs.

In an opinion piece published in a regional newspaper in July, Armstrong advocated for a boycott of the retailer, accusing the company of having “rolled back its DEI efforts, pulled inclusive displays from shelves and aligned itself with the very forces attacking democracy and racial progress.”

In a September social media post, Armstrong praised a figure who was convicted of killing a state law enforcement officer in 1977. Armstrong called her “a brave, wise, powerful, and revolutionary Black woman.”

The individual in question, whose birth name was Joanne Chesimard but who adopted the name Assata Shakur, reportedly died in the Caribbean nation of Cuba on September 25, decades after escaping from prison. She was a member of what federal authorities described as “one of the most violent militant organizations of the 1970s.”

Shakur was convicted of murdering the state trooper, who left behind a wife and young child, during an incident on a major highway in 1973. She was found guilty of first-degree murder and other charges and was sentenced to life imprisonment. She escaped from prison in 1979 and lived underground before surfacing in the communist-governed Caribbean island in 1984.

Federal authorities and state prosecutors each offered substantial rewards for her capture, and in 2013, she was added to the federal government’s list of most wanted individuals.

In her post, Armstrong wrote, “We will continue to recite the Assata Shakur chant at the end of protests and demonstrations in her memory,” adding a social media hashtag referencing the convicted militant.

Attempts to reach Armstrong for comment were reportedly unsuccessful.