The administration of United States President Donald Trump has expanded the scope of prosecution against protesters involved in church demonstrations from nine to 39.
This demonstration was part of Trump’s response to the deadly immigration surge. In the Midwestern state of Minnesota, officials have tried to portray the protests as an attack on religious freedom.
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Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the expanded indictment in a message posted on social media on Friday.
Today, Bondi wrote, “the Justice Department has unsealed indictments charging 30 more people with participation in the attack on the City Church in Minnesota.” At my direction, federal agents have already arrested 25 of them, with more to come throughout the day.”
He also added a warning to other protesters who might try to disrupt a religious service.
“You cannot attack a house of worship,” Bondi said. “If you do, you can’t hide from us – we will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you. This Justice Department is standing up for Christians and all Americans.”
Appeal to Christian voters
Since taking office for a second term, Trump has tried to appeal to Christian conservatives by launching initiatives, for example, to root out anti-Christian bias and stop alleged acts of Christian persecution domestically and in countries such as Nigeria.
But critics have accused his administration of attempting to suppress protests by prosecuting participants in the Minnesota protests.
Some of the accused also deny being part of the January 18 protests. Defendants such as former CNN anchor Don Lemon and reporter Georgia Forte say they participated as journalists.
Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges and have publicly questioned whether their prosecution is an attempt to curtail press freedom.
The superseding indictment filed Thursday charges two counts against 39 defendants, accusing them of conspiracy against the right to religious freedom and attempts to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the exercise of religious freedom.
“While inside the church, the defendants collectively harassed, intimidated, and threatened church congregants and clergy by physically occupying the main aisle and rows of chairs at the front of the church,” the indictment reads.
It also described the protesters as “engaging in dangerous and threatening behaviour” by “loud sloganeering and shouting” and obstructing the exit.
On January 22, a magistrate judge initially rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to charge nine people involved in the protests.
But the department instead sought a grand jury indictment, which was filed on January 29 and made public the next day.
Reaction to Trump’s immigration surge
The protests, dubbed “Operation Pullup”, were conceived as a response to the violent immigration crackdown that took place in Minnesota.
Many enforcement efforts are focused on the metropolitan area that includes the Twin Cities: St Paul and Minneapolis.
Trump had repeatedly blamed the region’s large Somali American population for a welfare fraud scandal involving government funding for programs such as Medicaid and school lunches.
In December, the Trump administration dispatched federal immigration agents to the region, naming the effort Operation Metro Surge. At its peak, there were approximately 3,000 agents in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area.
But the effort was marred by reports of excessive violence toward detainees and protesters. Videos circulated of officers breaking car windows of legal observers, pepper-spraying protesters, and beating people.
Officers have also engaged in the practice of forcibly entering homes without judicial warrants, which advocates have described as a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. Cases of illegal arrests also came to light.
But a turning point came on January 7, when an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was caught on camera shooting into the vehicle of 37-year-old mother Renee Good. He died and his assassination sparked protests across the country.
Operation Pullup took place less than two weeks later at the city’s Church of St Paul.
Its purpose was a demonstration against the church’s pastor, David Easterwood, who works as a local officer for ICE.
Many protesters have indicated they are prepared to fight government charges over the incident, citing their First Amendment rights to free speech.
Some also said they intended to remain vigilant about government immigration actions even after Trump administration officials announced the end of Operation Metro Surge in mid-February.
“This is not the time to be Minnesota Nice,” one protester, civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, wrote on social media last week. “It is time for truth, justice and freedom to triumph.”
