Illinois
Illinois church Nativity shows baby Jesus zip-tied by ICE agents
EVANSTON, Ill. – An Illinois church is facing criticism for displaying a Nativity scene that depicts baby Jesus with his hands zip-tied and guarded by figures styled as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Lake Street Church of Evanston is displaying the scene outside on its grounds. Baby Jesus is wrapped in a thin blanket resembling aluminum foil, which the church said is a reference to the emergency blankets used in detention facilities. Masked centurions, officers in the ancient Roman army, are depicted in sunglasses and green vests labeled “ICE.”
It also shows Mother Mary wearing a respirator mask “to protect herself from tear gas,” according to the church. Joseph is also masked.
In a Facebook post last week, the church said the installation reimagines the Nativity as a scene of forced family separation, drawing parallels between the Holy Family’s refugee flight and modern immigration detention practices.
“This installation reimagines the nativity as a scene of forced family separation, drawing direct parallels between the Holy Family’s refugee experience and contemporary immigration detention practices,” the post reads.
“‘The Holy Family were refugees. This is not political interpretation, this is the reality described in the stories our tradition has told and retold for millenia,’” it continues. “‘By witnessing this familiar story through the reality faced by migrants today, we hope to restore its radical edge, and to ask what it means to celebrate the birth of a refugee child while turning away those who follow in that child’s footsteps.’”
The church, which also hangs Black Lives Matter banners and social justice banners, said the zip ties on the baby’s wrists directly reference children who were zip-tied by agents during a raid on a Chicago apartment building earlier this year. The church claims most residents were U.S. citizens in that incident. It called the display a stark reminder that “enforcement terror does not discriminate by documentation status.”
In recent days, it appears Mary’s gas mask has been removed, while the zip ties have been cut from the baby Jesus’ hands.
The Facebook post and display drew both criticism and praise from commenters.
“Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem because they had to return to Joseph’s ancestral home to be counted in the census,” one person wrote. “So Trump is just following that example and sending people HOME per a legal requirement. If they want to immigrate LEGALLY, they can fill out the paperwork before they leave and self-deport.”
“Blasphemy!!! Father forgive them, they know not what they do,” another wrote.
A different commenter argued the church had misinterpreted the Bible: “The Holy Family were refugees… do you guys read the Bible? Mary and Joseph travelled as required by Caesar’s census requirement, NOT refugees.”
Others supported the display, with one user calling it “very powerful art.”
“Out of all the tragedy affecting my community, I’m glad powerful art is being used to address the issues that trolls make fun of,” one person wrote. “Hoping more displays like this come out to trigger the masses in a positive way.”
Lake Street Church has staged politically themed Nativity scenes before. In 2023, it set up a display showing Baby Jesus alone amid rubble as an homage to civilians trapped in the war in Gaza, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Rev. Michael Woolf, a senior minister at Lake Street Church of Evanston, was among 21 people arrested on Nov. 14 outside the ICE processing facility in Broadview, Illinois.
Read more at FoxNews.com
Tennessee football will play Illinois in the Music City Bowl. It will be a 5:30 p.m. ET kickoff on Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
Nissan Stadium holds roughly 69,143 people, so there are plenty of tickets available.
Buy Tennessee vs Illinois
Here’s how much tickets cost and where to buy them.
Tennessee vs Illinois in the Music City Bowl
Ticket prices for the Tennessee vs Illinois start at $68 on VividSeats and $77 on StubHub. Prices in the lower bowl range from $68 to $488 on both sites.
To see a full list of ticket prices, visit StubHub.
When does Tennessee play Illinois in the Music City Bowl?
Tennessee will play Illinois on Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Tennessee vs Illinois score predictions
Tennessee 35, Illinois 28
Kamryn Jackson covers high school and college sports for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Greenville News and Anderson Independent Mail, and the USA TODAY Network. Please email her at KEJackson@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @KamxJack.
Cyclones coach Bill Fennelly talks about his team’s win over Mercyhurst
Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly recaps his team’s win over Mercyhurst.
AMES – After a week off from competition, the Iowa State women’s basketball team returns to the court today.
The 11th-ranked Cyclones (9-0) will face Northern Illinois (2-6) on Sunday at Hilton Coliseum at 1 p.m. CT.
It’s Iowa State’s first game since handing Indiana its first loss of the season in the Coconut Hoops event in Fort Myers, Fla., back on Nov. 30. Audi Crooks scored a single-game school record 47 points during the 106-95 victory over the Hoosiers that day.
Watch Iowa State vs. Northern Illinois on ESPN+
What channel is Iowa State vs. Northern Illinois on today?
Iowa State vs. Northern Illinois time today
Location: Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
Date: Sunday, Dec. 7
Start time: 1 p.m. CT
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
Tommy Rittenhouse threw five interceptions Saturday. He atoned big time when it mattered most.
The Illinois State quarterback threw two touchdown passes to wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz in the final three minutes and completed a gutsy 2-point PAT as the unranked Redbirds defeated No. 1 North Dakota State 29-28 in the second round of the FCS playoffs in the Fargodome on Saturday.
The Bison (12-1), the No. 1 seed, were defending FCS champions and had not lost since Nov. 23, 2024. The Bison won the FCS title 10 times from 2011 to 2024 and had beaten the Redbirds 14 straight times.
“I’ll do it again if we win by 1 point, I don’t care,” Rittenhouse said of his five INTs. “My first three interceptions were tipped at the line of scrimmage. They (NDSU) did a great job all game. That’s a really tough defense to go against, but I just trusted the guys around me. Everyone was coming up to me saying it, and I knew I was going to. That’s all I could do to give us a chance.”
WE TOLD Y’ALL ABOUT THAT RITTENHOUSE TO SOBKOWICZ CONNECTION 🤯 https://t.co/Qt7MuPLLKr pic.twitter.com/2dVZxKMTnT
— Illinois State Football (@RedbirdFB) December 6, 2025
Illinois State head coach Brock Spack said his team was partly motivated by their 42-10 defeat to UC Davis in the second round last year.
“Sometimes what happens in the last game of the season is good for you,” Spack said. “That (loss) really bothered them. That’s what I told them today, lets just be us. Just be us. That’s all you gotta do and you can win the game.”
By most measures, the Redbirds (10-4) had little chance of winning. The Bison returned one of Rittenhouse’s picks 73 yards for a touchdown and another one 21 yards to the Illinois State 4, leading to a touchdown that gave NDSU a 28-14 lead with less than 13 minutes remaining in the game.
But NDSU senior quarterback Cole Payton, considered an NFL draft prospect, struggled for most of the game and completed 4 of 12 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown. He was injured after being strip-sacked by Jake Anderson, who recovered the fumble to give Illinois State the ball at the NDSU 23 with 1:51 left in the game.
Several plays later, on fourth down and goal from the NDSU 6, Rittenhouse scrambled right and threw to a leaping Sobkowicz for their third TD connection of the day to bring the Redbirds to within a point.
“I’m not the best at rolling to the right, throwing it back, and I found that good touch and Dan went up and made the play,” Rittenhouse said.
“The play (call) didn’t plan out how we wanted it to, but when you have Tommy at quarterback and he’s got his legs and scramble drill, you gotta make sure you’re doing everything you can to get open,” Sobkowicz said. “The scramble drill is the biggest thing in football that gets overlooked, and that a big thing that our team does really well, is the scramble drill, especially because we have Tommy.”
Rather than try a PAT kick and potentially send the game into overtime, Spack opted to go for 2. Rittenhouse fired a dart to Scotty Presson Jr. in the end zone to put the Redbirds on top.
Spack said he and his coaching staff had no hesitation about going for 2.
“I thought myself earlier in the week, we gotta for 2,” Spack said. “We met as a staff and I said, listen fellas, if it gets to that down here we need to go for 2. Lo and behold, it came up and we did. So, there was really no waffling. Everybody knew.”
REDBIRDS WITH A 2PT CONVERSION🤯🤯
📺ESPN+#ValleyFootball x #FCS x @RedbirdFB x @NCAA_FCS pic.twitter.com/llBWjZmnVm
— Valley Football (@ValleyFootball) December 6, 2025
Taking over at quarterback for the injured Payton, Nathan Hayes got the Bison to their own 44 but couldn’t convert on fourth down with 12 seconds left.
Illinois State will play the winner of the UC Davis-Rhode Island game in the next round. The FCS bracket is shown here.
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