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A former pastor who has been fighting against restrictions on First Amendment freedoms scored a major legal victory earlier this year, prompting him to set up a Nativity scene on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building, a peaceful demonstration that would have gotten him arrested just a few short months ago, he told Blaze News.
At noon on December 10, Rev. Patrick Mahoney — a reformed Presbyterian minister who has spent the last 32 years as the director the Christian Defense Coalition based in Washington, D.C. — brought statues representing baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the wise men, and even a few animals and arranged them on the southeastern steps of the U.S. Capitol, the area K-LOVE described as "the House of Representatives side."
Then Mahoney; his wife of 51 years, Katie; and only three other guests were then able to gather round, read some scripture verses, and sing Christmas carols without fear of reprisal from law enforcement. The event lasted for about an hour.
— (@) — (@)According to Mahoney, this Nativity scene was a historic moment as it marked the first time ever that a Nativity scene was put on display on the steps of the Capitol.
"We read the Christmas story. We prayed for our country. We stressed how important the message of hope and peace that Jesus brought ... through his birth was open to all humanity," Mahoney told Blaze News. "We prayed for our government. We prayed for the new incoming government."
"So we celebrated the birth of Christ as the most significant moment in world history," he continued.
"We rejoiced in that."
The fight for the First Amendment
In the land of the free and the home of the brave, where freedoms regarding speech and religious expressions are enshrined into the Constitution, such peaceful events held in our nation's capital should hardly be remarkable. But Rev. Mahoney knows better, understanding that such liberties have been readily sacrificed in recent years in the name of safety and security.
The first major event that curtailed civil liberties in D.C. was 9/11. Shortly after the attacks, which included a deadly attack on the nearby Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol Police decided to prevent Americans from demonstrating at the Capitol building, according to Eric Sell, an attorney with the Center for American Liberty, which represents Mahoney.
"It's roughly 250 feet circle all around the Capitol building, which includes the eastern steps, and it's totally off limits to demonstration activity," Sell explained to Blaze News.
'No person or group of any size may engage in demonstration activity on the steps of the United States Capitol.'
For more than two decades, Capitol Police did not change that policy. In fact, they worked to enhance restrictions even further after January 6, 2021.
Mahoney learned firsthand just how strictly those enhanced restrictions were enforced. In April 2021, just a few short months after the riot at the Capitol, Mahoney tried to host a prayer vigil on Good Friday as he had in previous years — and was soon arrested.
Photo shared with Blaze News. Used with permission
Mahoney was charged with unlawful assembly and later paid an estimated fine of $125. The heightened security restrictions on the steps at the Capitol building remained in place though, effectively prohibiting regular Americans from speaking openly outside a government building they paid for with their taxes.
"It had just been members of Congress who were able to use the Capitol steps virtually whenever they wanted to," Sell said. "And what they would do is they would often invite their allies up there with them."
"But members of the public couldn't do that," Sell added.
Traffic Regulations released by the Capitol Police Board in January 2024 reiterated the restrictions regarding the Capitol steps:
"No person or group of any size may engage in demonstration activity on the steps of the United States Capitol, on the steps of any building on Capitol Grounds or in any area otherwise closed or restricted for official use."
Mahoney refused to accept the ongoing suspension of American civil liberties and sued the Capitol Police Board to end the restrictions. The process to end the regulations was long but quite successful.
"After 18 months, we secured the right back to peaceful demonstrations, back to free speech activities, our Good Friday services," he told Blaze News, "but there was one area that still we were seeking free speech rights on, and that were the Capitol steps."
Mahoney's determination to reclaim that critically important public area eventually paid off earlier this year. In May, James Boasberg, the chief judge of the D.C. District Court who was appointed by Obama, ruled that "the ban on all non-sponsored speech on the eastern steps" of the U.S. Capitol was "unconstitutional."
Sell told Blaze News that this decision formally classified the eastern steps of the Capitol as "a traditional public forum" where First Amendment rights are strongly protected.
"It's much harder for the government to prohibit speech that's in a traditional public forum," Sell explained. "And having the Capitol steps be determined by a federal court to be a traditional public forum is an incredible victory for free speech because that means people are allowed to go there and express their messages."
While Capitol Police and other government officials "can still require permits and have other kind of regulations," Sell continued, they can no longer "prohibit speech there outright like they have been doing since 2001."
Mahoney said that the Capitol steps are "the people's house" and that the people, not just congressmen and their "lobbyist" friends, have a right to express themselves and their religious beliefs there without fear.
"It doesn't belong to an elite group of the political class, but every citizen, whatever their views or values are, should have the right to freely go to the United States Capitol and air them."
The Capitol Police Board did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.
A 'decisive legal victory' — and yet ...
Shortly after Judge Boasberg issued the ruling, Rev. Mahoney knew how he would would celebrate it: by hosting a Christmas celebration in December complete with a Nativity scene and carol-singing. Mahoney indicated to Blaze News that the eastern steps were ground zero for "the war on Christmas."
"Having this event on the steps of the Capitol — the most powerful public forum, the most powerful public place in the world — if we can come and worship freely there and celebrate Christmas there and express our religious freedoms there, then we've won the war on Christmas and the war on Christmas is over," he said.
Other Christians and Christian organizations view the ruling and the Nativity scene at the Capitol building similarly.
Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, director of the Conscience Project, told Blaze News:
The Nativity display set up on the steps of the US Capitol building by the Christian Defense Coalition — a group of private citizens — is a wonderful expression of the freedoms all Americans enjoy. Peaceful demonstrations in places traditionally considered public forums don’t lack their protection under the Constitution because they have a religious character. All defenders of treasured American freedoms, whether they are Christian or not, should celebrate that this one battle in the “War on Christmas” has been won.In a statement to Blaze News, Erika Ahern, associate editor for CatholicVote and the LOOP, said:
In this historic first, we see a sign of Christmas joy and hope for our great nation. Public displays of the Nativity of Jesus acknowledge the central role of religion in American history, as well as the reality that the majority of Americans honor Christ at Christmas. Much is made of our political divisions, but the display of the Holy Family is a sign that America is healing.Sell likewise described the ruling as "incredible" and as a "decisive legal victory."
'If we did this eight months ago or last Christmastime, we would have been arrested.'
Unfortunately, the ruling still has one major restriction attached to it. Even though Judge Boasberg found that forbidding free speech on the eastern steps was "unconstitutional," he nevertheless agreed to severely limit the number of people who can exercise their First Amendment rights there, at least for the time being.
In fact, only Mahoney and four of his friends are permitted to participate until the new administration is inaugurated next month.
"The government had asked the district court to stay the injunction with respect to everyone except for Patrick Mahoney," Sell told Blaze News. "[The judge] was concerned that the government raised legitimate concerns about safety from the election until the inauguration."
Though only five total people could officially participate in the Christmas event, plenty of tourists enjoyed it so much that they stopped to take selfies with Mahoney, his wife, and the Nativity figures.
"People loved it," Mahoney said with pride. "They really rejoiced in it."
Photo shared with Blaze News. Used with permission.
Sell described the temporary restriction as "ridiculous" and noted that even the American Civil Liberties Union was incensed about it and wanted to get involved.
"We've had some conversations with the D.C. chapter of the ACLU," Sell said. "They are interested in this case. They support Reverend Mahoney, and they support the public's right to speak on the Capitol steps. It sounds like they may submit an amicus brief in support of us on appeal."
Though Mahoney said he does not often see eye to eye with the ACLU, he appreciates the organization's willingness to stand with him in the fight for free speech. Sell indicated that an amicus brief from the organization could influence the courts.
"Having them file a brief in support we think helps because it shows that this isn't something that's confined to the ideological right or the ideological left," Sell said. "People across the spectrum believe in free speech in this country, and the fact that you have the ACLU coming in and filing a brief shows that this is about free speech. It's not about right-wing or left-wing ideology."
The ACLU did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.
For now, Mahoney is just grateful that a federal judge, an Obama appointee no less, sided in favor of the First Amendment.
"If we did this eight months ago or last Christmastime, we would have been arrested," he said.
Despite the progress, Mahoney warns Christians and all Americans of good will not to become complacent about their civil liberties.
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," Mahoney said, quoting an inscription on a sculpture at the National Archives in D.C. "And I think particularly the faith community needs to take that to heart, that we must continually speak out and fight to ensure that every American is free to express their religious views and beliefs and values in the public square, how they raise their children, how they conduct their lives, without government harassment or opposition."
He also indicated to Blaze News that he is optimistic that the First Amendment is in better hands with President-elect Donald Trump than it would have been under Vice President Kamala Harris, who he suggested has "animus and hostility toward people of faith."
"I think one of the key undercurrents, like in the election, obviously immigration, crime, the economy were key issues," Mahoney said. "But I think bubbling under that for the 80% of evangelicals who voted for President Trump was the sense that our religious freedoms would be protected."
"One of the most dangerous things in America is when our federal law enforcement is turned against their own citizens, especially people of faith," he added, referencing the peaceful pro-life protesters jailed under the Biden-Harris administration.
"It's dangerous."
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