DOJ signals crackdown on synagogue protesters using abortion clinic statute
The Justice Department is signaling a broader use of federal civil rights law against protesters accused of disrupting religious worship, with officials pointing to synagogue cases as a model for...
By Fox News · Fox News
The Justice Department is signaling a broader use of federal civil rights law against protesters accused of disrupting religious worship, with officials pointing to synagogue cases as a model for future enforcement. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the department has applied the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act — a law historically associated with abortion clinic protests — to cases involving disruptions at Jewish houses of worship. "It was our pioneering application of the FACE Act to defend Jewish synagogues that paved the way for its use to defend churches," Dhillon said during remarks at an antisemitism and extremism conference at George Washington University Tuesday, describing the enforcement approach as a way to draw clear legal lines between protected speech and unlawful conduct. The FACE Act makes it a federal offense to use force, threats of force or physical obstruction to intentionally interfere with individuals because they are exercising their right to religious worship or to an abortion. Dhillon said the statute allows federal authorities to intervene when protests cross into obstruction, intimidation or trespass at places of worship. FEDERAL AGENTS ARREST 2 MORE IN CONNECTION TO MINNESOTA CHURCH STORMING Dhillon cited a civil lawsuit filed by the Justice Department against protesters accused of disrupting services at a synagogue in West Orange, New Jersey, calling the case a first-of-its-kind application of the law in that context. She said the department is also reviewing similar incidents elsewhere and warned that additional enforcement actions could follow. According to Dhillon, the Civil Rights Division has shifted toward more aggressive enforcement in response to a rise in antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, including harassment, vandalism and disruptions of religious services. "Antisemitism is an American problem, not a…