The Department of Justice could take major legal action after an anti-ICE protest hijacked a service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday.
United States Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon told The Daily Wire in an interview Monday morning that she’s working closely with Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate for “federal offenses,” including breaking the FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act, which Dhillon noted “criminalizes blocking, interfering with, disrupting a house of worship.” The protest was sparked over one of the pastors’ employment with ICE, according to the Associated Press.
“That’s exactly what these people did. Clearly. So, the only question really is who they are and what other offenses there may be,” she said, later adding that “we don’t prejudge a situation, but we’d like to make the strongest case possible.” During the interview, the DOJ official noted that were two prosecutors flying to Minnesota as of Monday morning to dive into the case.
“I find the silence of the Attorney General of Minnesota, the District Attorney Mary Moriarty of Hennepin County, and the Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz, shocking. They’re the governor, District Attorney, and Attorney General of these people, too. And where’s the reassurance to them?” Dhillon asked.
The Daily Wire reached out to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office. Gov. Tim Walz’s office told Fox News, “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.”
Dhillon also empathized with churchgoers who may be concerned about protests when attending a service in the coming weeks.
“I feel like I have to give a First Amendment 101 primer to people, including journalists like Don Lemon, because you don’t have a First Amendment right to trespass and invade a house of worship. It’s literally illegal to do that. And it’s not protected by the First Amendment on top of that,” she said. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon live-streamed the protest inside the church, and Dhillon suggested in other interviews on Monday that it could potentially open the door for charges against the liberal commentator.
“And so you can have your protest a safe distance away from a private facility. You can have your protest in a park, you can have a march, you can get a permit for a large gathering, but you can’t just go wherever you want and tear things up and disrupt. And that’s what these people did. And so now, people are afraid to go to church. And that is an absolute disgrace in this country,” the assistant attorney general continued.
She also recommended that houses of worship have cameras outside of their buildings to “be prepared to record what’s going on and who’s coming.”
“I would just tell people that they should not be on edge. We believe in the Almighty and this DOJ has the right and the ability to step in and protect where the local authorities won’t,” Dhillon noted.
Anti-ICE protests escalated in the Minneapolis area after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, a woman who allegedly attempted to hit the officer with her vehicle, as the Department of Homeland Security said the agent suffered from internal bleeding after the incident.
.png)
.png)
