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By Andrew Goudsward<\/p>\n
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 \u200bmonth, according to court documents made public on Saturday, revealing the lengths the Trump administration \u200chas gone to prosecute those involved in the demonstration.<\/p>\n
The ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest \u200clegal 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.<\/p>\n
A federal magistrate judge this week declined to approve arrest warrants \u2060for five proposed defendants, including former \u200cCNN 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 \u200da proposed charge accusing them of physically obstructing a house of worship.<\/p>\n
DEFENDANTS ACCUSE ADMINISTRATION OF RETALIATION<\/p>\n
The case has drawn substantial attention as the Trump administration pursues a sweeping immigration crackdown in the state and administration officials have vowed \u200bto protect Christian services.<\/p>\n
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
The \u200cthree defendants \u2014 activists Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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 \u2060a risk of similar church disruptions.<\/p>\n
The chief U.S. District Court \u200bjudge in Minnesota, Patrick Schiltz, described the Justice Department’s request \u200bas “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.<\/p>\n
All three judges \u200don the 8th Circuit panel \u2060agreed 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 \u2060ways to get them approved other than through the appeals court.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department can still ask a grand jury to \u200capprove charges against the demonstrators or seek to present additional evidence to the magistrate judge.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by \u200cAndrew Goudsward; Editing by Sergio Non, Rod Nickel)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n