A handful of states have passed or are attempting to pass legislation to protect worship services from political protestors. The move comes after local authorities failed to move decisively when anti-ICE protestors raided a Minneapolis church in the middle of their service to protest the pastor’s connection to ICE.
States Toughen Penalties for Disrupting Religious Services › American Greatness– amgreatness.com
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States across the country are beginning to impose tougher criminal penalties on protesters who disrupt church services and other religious gatherings following a high-profile demonstration inside a Minnesota church earlier this year.
At least four states have approved new laws this year aimed at protecting worship services from disruptions, while similar legislation has been introduced in several other states and in Congress.
Supporters of the measures say the laws are needed as churches and synagogues remain on heightened alert following years of violence and politically charged confrontations targeting religious institutions. They say existing trespassing laws are insufficient to deter increasingly aggressive protests.
“People should go to church to be able to sit in peace, worship as they please, without having to worry about people coming in and harassing them,” Mark Harris said after co-sponsoring legislation in Idaho. “I think the thing that happened in Minnesota was kind of a shock to some of us, that churches would be used as a place to berate people.”
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