Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division (second from the left) announces a FACE Act lawsuit Monday against pro-Palestinian protests. Photo courtesy of Department of Justice Civil Rights Division/X
The Trump administration is targeting pro-Palestinian protesters with a civil rights lawsuit filed under a law intended to protect healthcare clinics from anti-abortion activists.
The Justice Department announced the lawsuit Monday in a press conference against six people and two organizations, including the New Jersey chapter of American Muslims for Palestine, in connection to the Nov. 13 protest held outside the Congregation of Ohr Torah in West Orange, N.J.
The protest of about 50 masked demonstrators outside the synagogue was against a real estate event being held there promoting property in Israel and the West Bank, which Palestinians and much of the international community regard as illegally occupied by Israel.
The lawsuit filed Monday accuses the protesters of engaging in “a coordinated effort to intimidate and disrupt Jewish worshipers at a religious event.”
“These violent protesters meant their actions for evil, but we will use this case to bring forth good — the protection of all Americans’ religious liberty,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said during the press conference.
Justice Department Files Lawsuit Under the FACE Act Against Violent Protestors at Synagogue in West Orange, New Jersey
“This Justice Department will vigorously enforce the right of every American to worship in peace and without fear,” said @AAGDhillon. “Those who target houses… pic.twitter.com/aMY1FydwZK— DOJ Civil Rights Division (@CivilRights) September 29, 2025
The Trump administration has zeroed in on pro-Palestinian protesters as part of its immigration and other policies.
It has targeted university demonstrations, arguing they amount to anti-Semitism and pose a threat to Jewish students. Immigration authorities have also sought to detain and deport noncitizens over public statements either criticizing Israel or supporting Palestine, arguing that their presence in the country as in opposition to U.S. national interests and foreign policy.
However, critics say the administration’s actions aim to suppress dissent and left-leaning ideology by threatening the opposition with lawsuits, restrictions on federal funding and visa revocations.
The lawsuit filed Monday accuses the defendants of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances of 1994, which focuses on protecting access to abortion clinics but includes prohibitions against barring those “seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.”
The previous Biden administration used it numerous times to charge anti-abortion protesters for obstructing access to abortion clinics. However, President Donald Trump, on his second day in office, pardoned 23 people convicted of violating the FACE Act.
It’s a novel use of the FACE Act to bring a lawsuit against pro-Palestinian protests, and Dhillon acknowledged that it was the first time the Justice Department has used it in connection with a place of worship.
“Violence and intimidation directed at synagogues and other houses of worship are not only attacks on individuals, they are attacks on an entire faith community, and they intimidate and deter people from exercising their protected First Amendment rights,” Dhillon said.
“Houses of worship in America must remain sanctuaries of peace, not places of fear.”
