The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act lawsuit against a group of anti-Israel protesters who disrupted a New Jersey synagogue event last year—marking the first time the government has invoked the law’s protections for places of worship in a federal complaint.
Enacted in 1994, the FACE Act makes it illegal to block access to reproductive health care facilities, including abortion clinics. The Act also protects houses of worship, prohibiting the use of force, threats of force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.
The mob protests in West Orange, New Jersey, last November were sparked by a religious event at Congregation Ohr Torah synagogue to promote the sale of real estate in Israel.
Originally scheduled at the home of Dr. Moshe Glick, the gathering was relocated to the synagogue, the lawsuit says, after protesters sent him a threatening letter. Glick later discovered he had been “doxxed” in pro-Palestinian social media accounts publicizing his home address as the location of a planned protest.
On the night of the event, pro-Palestinian protesters stormed through the neighborhood, blaring “vuvuzelas” as they approached the synagogue. Vuvuzelas are long slender horns known to cause permanent hearing loss, according to the filing.
Defying police, the protesters charged onto synagogue grounds, aggressively confronting worshipers, including Glick, who was targeted with a vuvuzela in his face by Altaf Sharif, one of the protesters.
Chaos ensued as another worshiper, 65-year-old David Silberberg, allegedly defended Glick by spraying pepper spray at Sharif. At that point, according to the complaint, a protester named Eric Camins shouted, “The Jew is here!”—pointing to Silberberg.
In the YouTube video provided by Glick and embedded below, Sharif is then seen tackling Silberberg to the ground, keeping him in a chokehold as they roll down a hill. Believing Silberberg’s life was in danger, Glick then allegedly intervened to rescue him, according to the complaint and depicted in the lurid scene:
After the assault, according to the filing, members of the mob shouted to the Jewish worshipers, “And you got your f*cking sh*t rocked, didn’t you?” and “You’re next! You’re next!” They also shouted, “Moshe Glick you can’t hide!”
This mob gone mad allegedly scared several individuals away from attending the event.
While Sharif—so far—has gotten off scot-free following the riots, Glick was indicted in June on criminal charges, including assault and weapons possession following the scuffle. The prosecution of the respected communal leader sparked outrage. Glick is now forced to fight an unjust legal battle, his supporters say, one that has turned the aggressor, Sharif, into the “victim.” His indictment sets a “dangerous precedent for how Jews are treated in the legal system amidst rising anti-Semitism.”
But now, justice may be coming for Sharif and the organizers of last year’s mayhem. The DOJ lawsuit filed in New Jersey federal district court on Monday names local chapters of the national Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), as well as Sharif and other protesters as defendants. The government asks the court to restrict their access to the synagogue and Glick’s home, and it seeks monetary damages.
The protesters’ conduct, both in forcing the relocation of the event from Glick’s home and in disrupting the event at the synagogue, violated the FACE Act, the government says in the lawsuit.
The DOJ filing is the latest step taken by the new administration to advance a more even-handed enforcement of the FACE Act, which for years disproportionately targeted pro-life demonstrators.
During the Biden administration, the FACE Act was weaponized against pro-life Americans, while pro-life centers and churches were left unprotected, as reported at Legal Insurrection. The Biden DOJ arrested and convicted 23 individuals under the FACE Act for praying and demonstrating outside abortion facilities.
“Yet, the same DOJ refused to apply the FACE Act to protect places of worship and crisis pregnancy centers,” the administration’s anti-Christian bias task force reported earlier this year.
The weaponization of the FACE Act against pro-lifers officially came to an end as soon as Trump took office. One of the President’s first executive orders was to pardon the 23 pro-life protesters earlier convicted under Biden.
The new DOJ leadership immediately directed its staff to pursue future abortion-related FACE Act prosecutions and civil actions only in limited circumstances, to guard against further abuse of the law against peaceful protesters.
And earlier this year, the Trump DOJ filed a statement of interest in support of a private FACE Act lawsuit against pro-Hamas protesters who disrupted a similar event at a Los Angeles synagogue.
This lawsuit is a great development. It will bring fresh scrutiny to how the events of last year—and the way local authorities handled them—ended with criminal charges against the alleged victims of the violence rather than its perpetrators.
It could also lay the groundwork for future lawsuits, not only against these defendants but in other cases. In addition to civil penalities, violators of the FACE Act can face criminal punishments including fines or imprisonment.
With Monday’s filing, the Trump DOJ has finally flipped the FACE Act script, not only for Glick, but for houses of worship and their members that until now have been neglected by the law enacted to protect them.
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