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After protesters made national headlines by storming a Minnesota church service in January over one of its pastors’ working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), multiple states are increasing penalties for disrupting worship services.
At least four states adopted laws this year after the protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 18. During a Sunday morning church service, a loud group entered the church, interrupted the sermon and brought the service to a halt.
The people who disrupted the service targeted Cities Church after learning that one of its pastors, David Easterwood, also serves as a local ICE official. According to charging documents, protesters interrupted the sermon with loud declarations, including chants of “ICE Out!” and “Stand up, fight back!”
Federal prosecutors charged them under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, which includes protections for houses of worship against physical intimidation. A civil lawsuit filed by Ann Doucette, a member of Cities Church, alleges that the protesters called congregants Nazis and told children that their parents would “burn in hell.”
The following pages highlight four states that have adopted tougher penalties for disrupting religious gatherings this year.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
