Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Tuesday that the Justice Department should move aggressively to bring federal charges against protesters who stormed Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, over the weekend.
He said that the incident was an act of intimidation and terror.
Speaking on Newsmax's "National Report," Self said the incident highlights what he described as a broader "war on Christianity" and called on federal authorities to act.
"Absolutely it's needed," Self said when asked whether DOJ involvement was warranted. "And look, [Attorney General] Pam Bondi laid it out — the FACE Act at a minimum."
According to Self, the decision by protesters to livestream the disruption inside the church was a key factor elevating the seriousness of the incident.
"When you livestream something, you want it to cause terror in the population. That's the definition of terror — to cause fear amongst the population," he said. "So when they livestreamed it, I compare them to Hamas, who livestreamed the [2023] attack in Israel."
"I think the federal authorities ought to go after them, at least in the FACE Act," he said.
The FACE Act — the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act — is a 1994 federal law that makes it a crime to use force, threats, or physical obstruction to interfere with people seeking or providing reproductive health services or exercising their right to worship at a place of religious worship.
The congressman also pointed to past federal prosecutions as evidence that the law has been used aggressively — and, in his view, selectively.
In 2024, Paulette Harlow, a 75-year-old woman, was sentenced to 24 months after being convicted under the FACE Act for praying and singing hymns in a protest at a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic. Two other women in their 70s, including Harlow's sister, were also convicted and sentenced.
"Look, you heard elderly ladies were given prison sentences for praying outside on a public sidewalk outside an abortion clinic," Self said. "They've abused it, let's use it."
Self also tied the church disruption to broader concerns about public disorder and corruption in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
"There's a lot to clean up there — the fraud that we know about, the illegal aliens that they're getting, the now terrorists going into churches," Self said. "It is hard to articulate how far down this state has gone into chaos, into destruction."
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