by Joseph Weber
The Justice Department says the agency is investigating an incident in Minnesota on Sunday in which demonstrators disrupted a church service because they believed the pastor has ties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The department is “investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshipers,” Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for DOJ’s Civil Rights division, said in an X post Sunday afternoon.
She also shared in the post a video that appears to show the demonstrators disrupting the service in the Minnesota city of St. Paul in an “ICE Out” protest.
FACE is an acronym for the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994 that in part prohibits the use or “threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking … or to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”
Minnesota has become a flash point in the Trump administration’s effort to remove illegal migrants living in the U.S. Earlier this month, an ICE agent fatally shot a Minneapolis motorist, Renee Good, who drove toward him when she was leaving a demonstration to block an ICE operation.
In another online video of the church incident, protesters seem to be chanting “Justice for Renee Good” inside the sanctuary at Cities Church as the service began.
On Sunday, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated she spoke with the pastor of the church where the protesters interrupted the church service.
“Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law. If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails,” she stated.
According to Fox News, Gov. Tim Walz issued a statement condemning the protest.
“The Governor has repeatedly and unequivocally urged protesters to do so peacefully. While people have a right to speak out, he in no way supports interrupting a place of worship,” he said, according to Bill Melugin.
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Joseph Weber is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Anti-ICE Protester” by End Wokeness.
