‘This is First Amendment activity’: Democrats give church-storming mobs their stamp of approval
Nekima Levy Armstrong, the radical who led the intrusion into the church. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images.
Ellison avoided answering the question, suggesting he was instead frustrated by the number of ICE agents operating in his crime-ridden jurisdiction and the possibility that troops might be deployed to Minnesota.
Rep. Adelita Grijalva (Ariz.), a co-sponsor of a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and a recent participant in an anti-ICE operation, is another Democrat who evidently figures churches are fair game for intimidation campaigns.
On a CNN appearance Monday, Grijalva justified the mob action, suggesting that the supposedly ICE-affiliated pastor “now knows what it’s like to have his daily life and privacy interrupted. This is a daily occurrence in our immigrant communities — being followed, being kidnapped, us out of our schools, churches, and hospitals.”
The Democrat congresswoman underscored that she did not think it was a step too far for “protesters” to go into churches, noting, “I think that when they find out that someone that’s supposed to be speaking for the community in church is found out to be in ICE, like a federal agent that is running ICE in their communities, they have the right to go in there.”
“Churches have always been an open door,” continued Grijalva. “And from my understanding in the videos that I saw, those protesters were not violent in any way.”
‘No cause — political or otherwise — justifies the desecration of a sacred space.’
Numerous Christian leaders and organizations evidently see things differently and have advocated for legal consequences in response to the intrusion.
Pastor Paul Chappell, president of the West Coast Baptist College, stated, “We condemn the actions of Don Lemon and the group of activists who stormed Cities Church today in St. Paul, Minnesota, in clear violation of the FACE Act. Christians everywhere should demand that the Department of Justice arrest those who participated. We must protect religious liberty in this country.”
“This group trespassed on private property and willfully obstructed Christian worship,” said Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board. “No cause — political or otherwise — justifies the desecration of a sacred space or the intimidation and trauma inflicted on families gathered peacefully in the house of God.”
Ezell added, “What occurred was not protest; it was lawless harassment.”
Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called the mob action not only a “desecration” but an “unspeakably evil intrusion.”
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon stressed on Sunday that houses of worship are not public forums for the protests of radicals but spaces “protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws.”
“We don’t want to prejudge, but I think it is fair to say that I saw multiple federal criminal incidents yesterday, and there will be charges,” Dhillon told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck. “It’s only a question of when we can get a judge to sign off on arrest warrants and exactly what the charges would be.”
“We will not let this happen to another church in the United States. It is un-American, unacceptable, and there is a zero-tolerance policy for it at this DOJ,” added Dhillon.
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