DOJ widens civil-rights case over Minnesota anti-ICE church protest

The Justice Department added 30 more defendants to the civil-rights case stemming from a January anti-ICE protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, bringing the total charged to 39 with violations of two FACE Act provisions (a misdemeanor) and conspiracy to interfere with religious rights. No new charges were added beyond those two civil-rights provisions. Don Lemon and another journalist are among those charged, and all original defendants have pleaded not guilty. The case raises questions about applying the FACE Act to houses of worship and involves grand-jury secrecy and transcript-disclosure disputes.