4 States Crack Down on Church Invasions After Anti-ICE Agitators Took Over St Paul Service

When a horde of agitators took over a St. Paul, Minn., church service in January, shouting, “Who shut this down? We shut this down!” they unwittingly inspired a nationwide effort to defend the sanctity of church services.

Four states have already passed laws cracking down on disrupting church services, and more legislatures are considering action.

While the agitators who invaded Cities Church in St. Paul face federal criminal charges, the incident highlighted the potential insufficiency of state law, which should already prevent such disruptions.

The Cities Church Invasion

Dozens of agitators entered Cities Church, a reformed evangelical church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, on Jan. 18 in the middle of a Sunday service. The invaders said they aimed to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid the surge of agents to Minneapolis. A pastor at the church also reportedly works for the agency.

According to a federal indictment based on videos the agitators themselves posted online, the agitators paraded down the aisles, blocked worshipers from leaving, and screamed in the faces of crying children.

One agitator reportedly asked children, “Do you know your parents are Nazis, they’re going to burn in hell?”

At least one father told investigators that his children were traumatized. One of them said to him, “Daddy, I thought you were going to die.”

The agitators allegedly refused to leave when asked. They allegedly blocked parents from getting to their children in Sunday school. They reportedly stood in the middle of the sanctuary chanting, “ICE Out!” and “Who shut this down? We shut this down!”

A federal grand jury indicted 39 people, including Lemon, on two charges: violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which also protects access to churches; and violating the Ku Klux Klan Act, which criminalizes efforts to deprive Americans of their fundamental rights—in this case, the right to the free exercise of religion. (A judge dismissed the charges against one defendant due to mistaken identity.)

The Church Protection Bills

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, signed Senate Bill 743 in February. The law criminalizes disruption of church services and imposes up to a $500 fine or up to one year in county jail for a first offense, with higher penalties for repeat offenses. The law also bans the use of profanity and rude or indecent acts during worship services.

Idaho Senate Bill 1296, which the state’s Republican governor, Brad Little, signed in March, makes it a misdemeanor to intrude into a church or house of worship with the intent to intimidate, harass, or disrupt the service. The law, which goes into effect on July 1, imposes up to six months in jail and fines ranging from $500 to $1,000 for a first offense, with escalating penalties for repeat offenses.

Louisiana House Bill 294 strengthens existing laws to give churches, synagogues, and other places of worship clear authority to quickly remove disruptive individuals. HB 68, meanwhile, imposes harsher penalties for intentional disruptions, adding a mandatory 30-day jail sentence to disturbing-the-peace charges for incidents at houses of worship. Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, signed both bills last month.

The Kansas Legislature overwhelmingly passed House Bill 2018, which criminalizes interference with the conduct of a religious assembly, in March. Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, allowed the law to take effect without her signature. She warned that the law “prioritizes” one fundamental right—to freely practice religion—over another, the right to freedom of expression.

While Americans have the right to protest and engage in free speech, that does not extend to invading church services and taking them over.

Legislators have introduced similar bills in at least seven states, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, the New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit to block a similar ordinance passed in Nassau County, New York. That ordinance, passed two days before the Cities Church invasion, appears to have come in response to harassment against a Manhattan synagogue.

While the Cities Church invasion may represent the most egregious church invasion in recent memory, it is far from the first. Pro-abortion agitators have disrupted services, and some agitators who support the traditional Christian view of sexuality have disrupted pro-LGBTQ churches.

Whatever they believe, Americans have the right to worship God in peace. Agitators should not disturb churches, synagogues, mosques, or other houses of worship, and it is inspiring to see lawmakers across the country take this threat seriously.