As the Justice Department investigates anti-ICE protesters who disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, Sunday, it is leaning on two federal laws – one more than 100 years old – to justify potential federal charges.
“Everyone in the protest community needs to know that the fullest force of the federal government is going to come down and prevent this from happening and put people away for a long time,” Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, said on The Benny Show, a podcast by conservative influencer Benny Johnson.
Here’s what we know about the federal statutes Dhillon has cited in reference to the protest investigation:
• The FACE Act: The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act was enacted in 1994 and prohibits the use of force or physical obstruction to intentionally interfere with anyone lawfully exercising their First Amendment right of religious freedom. The statute also protects facilities that provide reproductive health services.
• The Ku Klux Klan Act: First enacted in 1871, the seldom-used KKK Act made it a federal crime to deny any group or person “any of the rights, privileges, or immunities, or protection, named in the Constitution,” according to the Office of the Historian at the US House of Representatives.
Read more about the laws and why context matters in this case here.