Andrew Guswold
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court dismissed Justice Department charges this month against five more people accused of disrupting church services in Minnesota, according to court documents released on Saturday, shedding light on the steps the Trump administration has taken to prosecute those involved in demonstrations.
The ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest legal setback for the Justice Department in its pursuit of demonstrators who interrupted services on Sunday to protest a pastor’s apparent ties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A judge involved in the case said the department’s request appeared unprecedented.
This week, a federal magistrate judge refused to approve arrest warrants for five proposed defendants, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who documented the demonstrations, citing a lack of evidence. A judge approved charges against three protest leaders but dismissed proposed charges accusing them of obstructing a house of worship.
Defendants accuse government of retaliation
The case has drawn widespread attention as the Trump administration pursues a sweeping immigration crackdown in the state, with administration officials vowing to protect Christian services.
A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to a criminal complaint, three defendants — activists Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly — are each charged with conspiring to violate rights by allegedly intimidating and harassing parishioners. They accuse the Trump administration of retaliating against their protests.
The Ministry of Justice asked first the chief judge and later the Court of Appeal to immediately intervene and approve arrest warrants for five other proposed defendants, citing similar risks of church disruption.
Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz of the U.S. District Court in Minnesota called the Justice Department’s request “unheard of in our district and by any other request in the Eighth Circuit, which covers seven states in the United States,” according to a letter made public Saturday.
All three 8th Circuit judges agreed not to intervene. One judge, Leonard Steven Grasz, wrote that he believed prosecutors had presented enough evidence to justify charges against the other proposed defendants, but that prosecutors had other ways to get the charges approved besides going through the appeals court.
The Justice Department can still ask a grand jury to approve charges against demonstrators or seek to present more evidence to a magistrate judge.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Sergio Non, Rod Nickel)
