Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has called out Minnesota’s Democratic leadership for not enforcing state law and for not arresting protesters who entered a local church over the weekend.
On “The Glenn Beck Program,” Dhillon noted the incident where extremists disrupted a church service. “I’m not trying to jump to conclusions, but I think it’s evident that we witnessed several federal criminal actions yesterday. There are going to be charges,” she remarked.
She mentioned that once the situation at Cities Church came to light, prosecutors quickly responded, bringing in FBI agents to determine whether left-wing extremists had violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances law or committed similar offenses, including potential conspiracy or provision of material support.
“The main question is when we can get a judge to sign an arrest warrant and what the specific charges will be,” Dhillon added, emphasizing that a federal judge must be available in Minnesota. “This isn’t Texas. We don’t have the same level of support for assault cases here as we’d like.”
Dhillon criticized local officials for their inaction regarding the arrest of the protesters and their overall failure to uphold state laws.
If the Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty had enforced the law, Dhillon suggested, arrests might have been made that day.
In the previous election cycle, both Ellison and Moriarty received support from Democrats, Farmers, and Labor unions for their re-election campaigns.
Dhillon conveyed to Beck that the federal government “has to clear some additional hurdles” in this situation.
When Beck inquired whether former CNN journalist Don Lemon had committed any offenses by following protesters into the church, Dhillon refrained from commenting directly but speculated about “podcasters who were once in mainstream news.”
She highlighted that private places of worship should not be venues for public protest in the U.S., adding that charges might be filed progressively.
“We will not allow anything like this to happen to any other church in America. This behavior is un-American and unacceptable. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy against it at the Department of Justice,” Dhillon concluded.
