There is a familiar pattern that emerges whenever far-left activist movements spill into public view, and it has far less to do with righteous indignation than it does with money. The imagery is always the same: raised fists, militant slogans, and breathless rhetoric about justice and oppression.
But behind the scenes, the leadership of these movements so often appears to be riding a very comfortable nonprofit gravy train. For the sake of honesty, the symbol might as well be swapped out for a fist full of dollars.
The latest example comes out of Minnesota, where Nekima Levy Armstrong helped organize the invasion of Cities Church in St. Paul last Sunday under the banner of anti-ICE activism. Armstrong, who bills herself as a civil rights lawyer and “scholar-activist,” claimed on social media that one of the church’s pastors had ties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That accusation helped justify disrupting a worship service, an act that crossed a line most Americans still recognize as basic decency. But the protest itself is only part of the story.
Gov Newsom was just asked by Human Events about Don Lemon and the storming of a Minnesota Christian church—Newsom said he hasn’t heard about it. pic.twitter.com/MGj8QdcS3I
— Human Events (@HumanEvents) January 21, 2026
The more revealing details are buried in nonprofit tax filings. Armstrong led the Wayfinder Foundation, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit focused on anti-poverty initiatives, for at least six years between 2019 and 2024. Over that span, the organization took in roughly a million dollars. While it did distribute grants, the numbers show a consistent imbalance between money paid out to communities and money paid to Armstrong herself.
In 2024, for example, the foundation awarded just under $159,000 in grants. Armstrong’s salary that same year exceeded $215,000, with an additional $40,000-plus in benefits and deferred compensation.
The year before followed the same pattern: about $134,000 in grants, while Armstrong took home more than $215,000 in combined compensation. Similar ratios appear in 2022 as well. For an organization ostensibly dedicated to fighting poverty, the executive compensation was not just generous, it eclipsed the charitable giving.
This is where the hypocrisy becomes impossible to ignore. These activists rail endlessly against capitalism, corporate greed, and “systems of exploitation,” yet seem perfectly comfortable enriching themselves through nonprofit structures that depend on donations, grants, and public goodwill. Armstrong has since moved on to become the founder and CEO of a cannabis company, Dope Roots, raising further questions about how intertwined her various ventures may be.
The church invasion itself may not be the end of this story. Cities Church has shown little inclination to quietly absorb the intimidation, and scrutiny of Armstrong’s nonprofit finances is unlikely to fade. Given the seriousness of targeting people while they are gathered for worship, a closer look from regulators would not be unreasonable.
