The Department of Justice responded to anti-ICE protesters storming a St. Paul, Minnesota church within hours on Sunday. By contrast, when a violent mob attacked Congregation Ohr Torah in West Orange, New Jersey, last November, the DOJ waited months to file a lawsuit—and then pursued only civil, not criminal charges against the attackers. Instead, local prosecutors charged Dr. Moshe Glick, the Jewish man who rescued a 64-year-old congregant from a violent chokehold, with aggravated assault, bias intimidation, and weapons offenses. The attacker walked free. Both incidents violated the same federal law—the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The starkly different responses raise urgent questions about equal protection under law and which American communities can expect the government to defend their houses of worship.
Sunday’s disruption at Cities Church in St. Paul by left-wing anti-ICE protesters triggered immediate federal action. Within hours, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was “investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers.” Attorney General Pam Bondi personally contacted the church’s pastor, assuring him that “attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declared that “President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship.”
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, passed in 1994, prohibits the use of force to interfere with anyone’s right to attend or conduct religious services at houses of worship. The law is straightforward: you cannot threaten, obstruct, or intimidate people from worshipping. Yet its enforcement reveals a disturbing pattern.
Dr. Glick, Director of Israel365 Action New Jersey and a leading advocate for religious freedom, issued a stark warning: “The disruption of worship at Cities Church in Minnesota marks a dangerous escalation in the targeting of houses of worship,” said Dr. Glick. “Political protest has crossed a clear line—from lawful demonstration into intimidation inside sacred spaces.”
Dr. Glick noted that his own case in West Orange, New Jersey, was the first instance in which the federal government invoked the FACE Act to protect a house of worship. “At the time, we warned that if these tactics were tolerated, they would intensify and spread,” he said. “Jews have long been the canary in the coal mine. What begins with the ‘Saturday people’ never ends there. Today, it is churches. Tomorrow it will be others.”
In the West Orange incident, when law enforcement failed to intervene, Dr. Glick, a private citizen, was forced to step in to protect an elderly man from attack and was himself arrested. “That is not how a society committed to religious freedom should function,” Dr. Glick stated.
“We hope the Department of Justice will pursue criminal charges in our case, as Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has not ruled out,” said Dr. Glick. “Without real legal consequences, this behavior will continue. The FACE Act exists to protect the free exercise of religion—not selectively, not politically, but universally. It must be enforced consistently so that churches, synagogues, and all houses of worship remain places of peace, not confrontation.”
The pattern Dr. Glick warned about materialized in Minneapolis on Sunday. Video shows protesters chanting “Justice for Renee Good” and “ICE out” inside Cities Church’s sanctuary while services were in session. Worshippers fled as activists claimed they were targeting a pastor allegedly affiliated with ICE. “This cannot be a house of God while harboring someone directing ICE agents to wreak havoc on our community,” attorney Nekima Levy-Armstrong told former CNN anchor Don Lemon during his livestream of the disruption. The protest was coordinated, filmed, and openly celebrated on social media. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey defended the protesters, calling their actions “peaceful” and “inspiring.”
In Minneapolis, activists livestreamed their disruption, treating it as a victory for their cause. Don Lemon followed protesters into the sanctuary, conducting interviews as worshippers fled. MAGA activists now call for Lemon’s arrest under the FACE Act, noting that his presence and participation could constitute aiding and abetting the violation. Whether the DOJ will pursue such charges remains to be seen.
On November 13, 2024, anti-Israel demonstrators swarmed Congregation Ohr Torah in West Orange, blocking access and harassing Jewish worshippers. According to the DOJ complaint filed months later, protesters directed the epithet “Nazis” at congregants and blew vuvuzelas dangerously close to their ears. Video evidence shows protester Altaf Sharif violently choking and tackling David Silberberg. Multiple witnesses reported calling the police, who were present but failed to intervene.
Dr. Glick, a dentist, father, grandfather, and Hatzalah EMT volunteer, acted when authorities would not. He rescued Silberberg from the chokehold. Essex County prosecutors rewarded him with felony charges that could destroy his life. The man who committed the actual assault faced no charges.
The DOJ eventually filed a civil lawsuit against the protesters under the FACE Act—but only after intense pressure from the Jewish community and legal advocates. No criminal charges were pursued against those who violated federal law by obstructing and intimidating Jewish worshippers. Instead, the full weight of the state fell on the man who defended the defenseless.
“Federal civil rights law is unequivocal: houses of worship and religious freedom must be protected,” said Benjamin Ryberg, Chief Operating Officer of The Lawfare Project. “What occurred in West Orange—where police allowed a mob to menace synagogue attendees while prosecuting a Jewish community member for aiding someone under attack—highlights the vulnerability of religious communities and the need for government action.”
Rabbi Tully Weisz, founder of Israel365, stated: “Dr. Moshe Glick serves as the chapter head of Israel365 New Jersey, and so we are profoundly grateful to the Department of Justice for taking decisive action to protect Jews who are advocating for Israel. Our churches and synagogues are sacred spaces that must be vigorously protected from harassment, intimidation, and violence.”
Both incidents involved mobs disrupting worship services. Both involved documented violence and intimidation. Both were clear violations of the FACE Act. The difference in response speaks volumes about which communities can expect protection and which must fend for themselves.
When Christians are targeted in Minnesota, the federal government mobilizes within hours, promising the “full force of federal law.” When Jews are attacked in New Jersey, local prosecutors charge the Jewish defender while the DOJ takes months to file a civil—not criminal—lawsuit against the attackers. The contrast raises uncomfortable questions about equal protection under the law.
The forces arrayed against houses of worship—whether synagogues or churches—are not merely political. They represent an assault on the very notion of sacred space, on the idea that certain places deserve protection from the chaos and violence of the street. When protesters storm into sanctuaries with cameras and chants, when they blow horns in the ears of worshippers and choke those who defend them, they are declaring that nothing is sacred, that no boundary will be respected, that might makes right.
Dr. Moshe Glick did not stand idly by. He acted when police would not. He saved a man’s life while a mob threatened violence at a house of worship. For this, he faces years in prison unless he can mount a successful defense. His case will determine whether defending Jewish lives becomes a crime in America.
The swift federal response in Minneapolis offers hope that the Trump administration recognizes the danger of allowing houses of worship to become battlegrounds. But hope is not enough. Equal protection means equal enforcement. If the FACE Act protects Christians in Minnesota, it must protect Jews in New Jersey with the same urgency, the same resources, and the same willingness to prosecute violators.
When the law is enforced selectively, when some communities receive immediate federal protection while others are abandoned to hostile mobs and vindictive prosecutors, the law becomes meaningless. Sacred space is not self-defending. It requires those who understand its importance to stand guard, to act when necessary, and to demand that the law protect all communities equally. Anything less is an invitation to chaos—and a betrayal of everything houses of worship represent.
