Last Sunday at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., worshippers opened their Bibles and began to pray. It was not part of the planned service. It was their response to an anti-ICE mob that had stormed into their sanctuary, disrupting their constitutional right to worship freely.
This was not an isolated incident. It is part of a disturbing pattern where progressive ideologues have made churches —particularly conservative Christian congregations — acceptable targets for intimidation and violence.
Consider the aftermath of the Dobbs decision. When the Supreme Court correctly returned abortion policy to the states, radical activists responded with a campaign of terror against churches. Catholic Vote’s Church Vandalism Tracker documents a shocking toll: Catholic parishes vandalized, statues beheaded, windows smashed, and threatening messages spray-painted on church walls.
The pattern is clear. Whether the cause is unrestricted illegal immigration, abortion-on-demand, or gender ideology, progressive activists have declared war on religious freedom —and they have chosen houses of worship as their battlefield.
These are not protests. They are acts of intimidation designed to silence dissent and punish those whose faith conflicts with progressive orthodoxy. When a mob forces its way into a church service, when vandals desecrate religious statues in the dead of night, when arsonists target buildings where families gather to worship, they are not exercising free speech. They are violating federal law and attacking the foundational American right to worship without interference.
The tactics are calculated and coercive. Protesters do not gather outside to make their voices heard — they invade sanctuaries during services, deliberately choosing the moment when congregations are most vulnerable and families are gathered in prayer. They know that disrupting worship inflicts maximum psychological impact while generating media attention for their cause. It is political theater performed at the expense of religious freedom.
As a young attorney, I worked in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division when the FACE Act — the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act — was enforced exclusively to protect abortion clinics. Contrary to the claims of Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s top law enforcement official, it explicitly protects “places of religious worship.” For years, that protection existed largely on paper. Attacks on conservative churches were ignored by prosecutors who should have been defending every American’s right to worship freely. The current Justice Department, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, has signaled a significant sea change. Evidence came earlier this week when Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon’s leadership put former CNN commentator Don Lemon “on notice” for his role in the St. Paul disruption.
When state and local officials turn a blind eye to intimidation tactics, federal enforcement becomes essential. The right to worship freely is foundational to American liberty, and when it is threatened with impunity, all our freedoms are at risk.
The response from targeted congregations has been remarkable. At Cities Church, parishioners didn’t fight back with violence or aggression. They turned to Scripture and prayer. Across the country, Catholic parishes have quietly pieced together shattered statues and replaced broken windows. Some have worked with local law enforcement to ensure the safety of their congregants. They are not playing victims — they are living their faith.
Like our Jewish brothers and sisters, whose synagogues have endured unspeakable violence and hatred, Christians under attack can find strength in ancient words. Psalm 140 offers comfort to those facing persecution: “Deliver me, Lord, from the wicked; preserve me from the violent… who plan to trip me up.”
It is worth noting that houses of worship should be off-limits, full stop. Just as churches shouldn’t be invaded by activists, they also should not be sites of ICE enforcement operations. Sacred spaces deserve special protection.
The stakes could not be higher. Religious freedom is not just another item on a policy checklist. It is the first freedom enumerated in our Bill of Rights. Our founders understood that when government — or mobs acting with government acquiescence — can dictate where, when, and how citizens worship, tyranny follows.
Progressive activists have calculated that they can attack churches without consequence because they believe the media and political establishment will look the other way. The vandalism continues. The disruptions multiply. And each time a mob storms a sanctuary or defaces a church, they’re sending a message: your faith makes you a legitimate target.
Americans of all political persuasions should reject this dangerous precedent. The constitutional right to worship freely belongs to everyone — and defending it protects us all.
Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is director of the Conscience Project and recipient of the Religious Freedom Institute’s 2025 Religious Freedom Impact Award.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Don Lemon)
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