Gut-Punch: Image of Man Comforting Little Boy During Leftist Attack on Christians Should Be Seared Onto Our Brains Forever
When it comes to Sunday’s sacrilege in St. Paul, Minnesota, one image stands out.
It’s not the raised fists of the mob who stormed Cities Church. It’s not the mad, hectoring face of a white progressive pontificating about “Latino and Somali brothers and sisters.”
It’s the image of a what appears to be a father comforting a young son faced with terror in a house of worship — and it has struck a chord.
I’m never going to forget this image. A lot of us aren’t. pic.twitter.com/QKsdKRgXzl
— Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) January 19, 2026
The picture was publicized by Denny Burk, a pastor and professor at Boyce College, a Christian institution in Louisville, Kentucky.
It’s a still shot from a video depicting the mayhem visited on the church in the middle of Sunday services by protesters aiming to make a point about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities in St. Paul and neighboring Minneapolis.
Here’s what happened inside Cities Church today. Look at the terrified child being comforted by his father at 1:05.
If the FACE Act isn’t enforced against these lawless radicals, then expect for this to continue all over the country.@AAGDhillon pic.twitter.com/uV8Btg1tFX
— Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) January 19, 2026
But it’s a moment that goes to the heart of the conflict being played out in Minnesota and across the country as President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration continues.
For leftists, the preferred image is of defiant protesters raising their fists against The Man. Failing that, there’s always sob-sister treatment by the establishment media of agitators who come to bad ends — like the ICE-attacking Renee Good in Minneapolis.
But for the saner sort — the majority of Americans who elected Trump in 2024 in large part because of his vows to clean up the illegal immigration disaster foisted on the country by thankfully former President Joe Biden — it’s the image of innocents that matters. And few things are more innocent than a young child in church with a family.
Burk’s video of the church invasion had nearly 700,000 views by early afternoon Monday. His separate post with the still of the boy had just over 180,000. And virtually all of them shared the punch-in-the-gut outrage Burk communicated with his caption: “I’m never going to forget this image. A lot of us aren’t.”
And they call Conservatives ‘Fascists’……
— Chrissie Z (@z_chrissie) January 19, 2026
This is so heartbreaking to watch. This poor child and his family will be scarred for life
— ElBigote (@DonElBigote) January 19, 2026
I would have feared for my life about half way through that. They were shaming & questioning their faith in their church. No idea how they kept their composure.
— LaPaCa (@LaurenPCalhoun) January 19, 2026
This is what Communist Democrats do to your kids in your church. Never forget. pic.twitter.com/YbkNE5CwLc
— The Amish Texter™ (@the_amish_txtr) January 19, 2026
I won’t either. Save it. pic.twitter.com/3CJ9JzJWWw
— Interested Bystander (@intrstdbystndr1) January 19, 2026
Of course, there were a few critics who got clever — one published a post using Burk’s verbatim caption, but with a picture from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion. (You can bet he thinks he’s the cat’s pajamas for coming up with that one.)
But the reality is that these “protesters” crossed a very big, fat, red line.
It’s true that the majority of Americans don’t attend church services regularly, but it’s equally true that most Americans have some respect for religious faith. (There’s a reason parking lots and pews are packed on Christmas and Easter.)
Storming churches is not the way to attract their support.
Making children cry is no way to do it either.
And making children cry while they’re in church is one of those 80-20 issues leftists keep getting on the wrong side of, like, say, stopping massive welfare fraud, keeping men from competing against women in women’s sports or prohibiting the sexual mutilation of children. (Seriously, how do these people live with themselves?)
The American left in the 21st century is in the truly weird — utterly untenable — position of being thoroughly morally corrupt while claiming the mantle of morality on every question.
That still shot from the St. Paul church is a little picture of a big moment.
And in the big picture, the left can’t last.
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