By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department is suing pro-Palestinian organizations and demonstrators it accuses of intimidating Jewish worshipers at a New Jersey synagogue, using a U.S. law that has traditionally been used against people blocking access to abortion clinics.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday in New Jersey federal court, alleges that a November protest against an event at a synagogue in West Orange, New Jersey, billed as a spiritual service and Israel real estate fair, escalated into violence.
Demonstrators physically assaulted some worshippers and chanted and used vuvuzelas – plastic trumpets sometimes used by soccer fans – to disrupt the event, according to the complaint.
The case was brought under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, a 1994 law that prohibits the use of force and physical obstruction to interfere with people at reproductive health centers or houses of worship.
The Justice Department has brought several cases against protesters who have obstructed abortion clinics, but the case appears to be the first time the law has been used to allege interference with religious worship, according to Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
“The practice of turning a blind eye to these attacks on houses of worship throughout the United States stops now,” Dhillon, who was nominated to the role by President Donald Trump, told reporters at a press conference.
The Trump administration has cracked down on U.S. protests over Israel’s military actions in Gaza, cutting funding for universities and seeking to deport some pro-Palestinian activists, citing alleged antisemitism.
The Justice Department under Trump has curtailed the use of the FACE Act in abortion-related cases, alleging that past criminal prosecutions represented an improper politicized use of law enforcement. Dhillon said those restrictions do not apply to cases related to houses of worship.
Trump in January pardoned several people who had been prosecuted under the law.
The civil lawsuit in New Jersey names the Party for Socialism and Liberation in New Jersey and Muslims for Palestine New Jersey as defendants. It seeks a court order barring those groups from using force or physical obstruction to interfere with worshippers at any house of worship in New Jersey.
Neither group could immediately be reached for comment.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Nia Williams)
Comments