By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court rejected the Justice Department’s bid to charge five more people accused of disrupting a Minnesota church service this month, according to court documents made public on Saturday, which revealed the lengths the Trump administration went to to prosecute those involved in the demonstration.
The ruling by the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest legal blow for the Justice Department as it pursues protesters who disrupted a Sunday service in protest of a pastor’s apparent connection to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A judge involved in the case said that the department’s request appeared to be unprecedented.
A federal magistrate judge this week refused to approve arrest warrants for five proposed defendants, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who recorded the demonstration, citing a lack of evidence. The judge approved charges for three alleged leaders of the demonstration, but struck down a proposed charge accusing them of physically obstructing a house of worship.
THE DEFENDANT ACCUSES ADMINISTRATION OF RETALIATION
The case has attracted substantial attention as the Trump administration pursues a strong crackdown on immigration in the state and administration officials have vowed to protect Christian services.
A Department of Justice spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The three defendants — activists Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly — were each charged with conspiracy against rights for allegedly intimidating and harassing parishioners, according to a criminal complaint. They accused the Trump administration of retaliation for their protest.
The Department of Justice first asked the chief trial judge and later the appeals court to intervene immediately and approve warrants for the five other proposed defendants, citing a risk of similar disruption in the church.
The chief judge of the US District Court in Minnesota, Patrick Schiltz, described the Justice Department’s request as “unheard of in our district” and any other under the 8th Circuit, which covers seven US states, according to a letter made public on Saturday.
The three judges on the 8th Circuit panel agreed not to intervene. One judge, Leonard Steven Grasz, wrote that he believes prosecutors have shown enough evidence to justify the charges against the other proposed defendants, but that prosecutors have ways to get them approved other than through the appeals court.
The Justice Department could still request a grand jury to approve charges against the protesters or seek to present additional evidence to the magistrate judge.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Sergio Non, Rod Nickel)