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, revealing the lengths the Trump administration has gone to prosecute those involved in the demonstration.
The ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest legal setback for the Justice Department as it pursues demonstrators who interrupted a service on Sunday in protest of a pastor’s apparent connection to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One judge involved in the case said the department’s request appeared to be unprecedented.
A federal magistrate judge this week declined 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 a proposed charge accusing them of physically obstructing a house of worship.
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The case has drawn substantial attention as the Trump administration pursues a sweeping immigration crackdown in the state and administration officials have vowed to protect Christian services.
A Justice Department spokesperson 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 have accused the Trump administration of retaliation over their protest.
The Justice Department first asked the chief trial judge and later the appeals court to immediately intervene and approve warrants for the five other proposed defendants, citing a risk of similar church disruptions.
The chief U.S. District Court judge 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 U.S. states, according to a letter made public on Saturday.
All three judges on the 8th Circuit panel agreed not to intervene. One judge, Leonard Steven Grasz, wrote that he believed prosecutors had shown enough evidence to justify charges against the other proposed defendants, but that prosecutors have ways to get them approved other than through the appeals court.
The Justice Department can still ask a grand jury to approve charges against the demonstrators or seek to present additional evidence to the magistrate judge.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Sergio Non, Rod Nickel)
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