{"id":1471979,"date":"2022-05-11T16:14:42","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T20:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1471979"},"modified":"2022-05-11T16:14:47","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T20:14:47","slug":"doj-must-investigate-pro-abortion-rights-activists-targeting-of-churches-as-religious-hate-crimes-congressman-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-must-investigate-pro-abortion-rights-activists-targeting-of-churches-as-religious-hate-crimes-congressman-says\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Must Investigate Pro-Abortion Rights Activists Targeting Of Churches As \u2018Religious Hate Crimes,\u2019 Congressman Says"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdoj-must-investigate-pro-abortion-rights-activists-targeting-of-churches-as-religious-hate-crimes-congressman-says%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1471979&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-11-at-1.09.21-PM.png?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>As pro-abortion rights protestors react to news <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em> might soon be overturned, Republican Texas Rep. Michael Cloud is calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the targeting of churches \u201cwith the utmost fervency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire first obtained Cloud\u2019s letter, which calls such demonstrations a \u201cdiabolical attack on Americans\u2019 sacred right to freely worship and assemble\u201d and reminds Garland that he has an obligation to both enforce the law and investigate any violations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rule of law, including the right of the People to freely worship must be defended,\u201d Cloud told The Daily Wire on Wednesday. \u00a0\u201cThe recent attacks on Christian churches across our nation must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The letter points to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/abortion-enthusiasts-block-the-front-door-of-lower-manhattan-church-saturday-morning\/\">National Review\u2019s reporting<\/a> on protests outside Old St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral in New York disrupting a pro-life rosary procession, referencing a protestor who was \u201cdancing and spinning on the ground with baby dolls attached saying \u2018God killed his kid, why can\u2019t I kill mine\u2019 and \u2018help me abort my babies. My babies are all wet.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn the same day in Los Angeles, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels\u2019 holy mass was interrupted by protestors just prior to taking Communion,\u201d the letter continued. \u201cOn May 5th, vandals spray-painted and smashed windows of Sacred Heart of Mary Church in Boulder, Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The congressman reminded Garland that these types of attacks on Catholic institutions are not anomalies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn fact, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has identified that \u2018at least 129 incidents have occurred across 35 states and the District of Columbia since May 2020. Incidents include arson, statues beheaded, limbs cut, smashed, and painted, gravestones defaced with swastikas, and anti-Catholic language and American flags next to them burned, and other destruction and vandalism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The letter cites multiple pro-abortion rights groups that have praised or encouraged disruptions of Catholic masses through protests, such as Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights and Ruth Sent Us.<\/p>\n<p>Ruth Sent Us \u201cpublicly stated its intentions to burn the Eucharist in protest,\u201d Cloud noted, before pointing out that a \u201ctabernacle containing the Eucharist was stolen from St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Katy, Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Stuff your rosaries and your weaponized prayer.<\/p>\n<p>We will remain outraged after this weekend, so keep praying.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll be burning the Eucharist to show our disgust for the abuse Catholic Churches have condoned for centuries. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1UxAkyuXTg\">pic.twitter.com\/1UxAkyuXTg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ruth Sent Us \ud83e\udea7 (@RuthSentUs) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RuthSentUs\/status\/1522942814895546370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 7, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cStolen Eucharists are often used to celebrate what are called \u2018black masses\u2019 and other satantic rituals,\u201d he wrote. \u201cTo put this in perspective as to how offensive this is, Catholics believe, according to the Catechism fo the Catholic Church, that the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ is contained and present in the Eucharist and that the Eucharist is the \u2018source and summit of the Christian life.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRuth Sent Us\u2019 intent to burn the Eucharist poses a threat to Catholic Churches simply for their Christian faith,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Cloud cites the Department of Justice\u2019s definition of a hate crime as \u201ca crime motivated by bias against race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability,\u201d noting that the DOJ definition puts \u201creligious hate crimes squarely within your department\u2019s purview.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile pro-abortion advocates have a Constitutional right to peacefully protest in public, the actions and rhetoric of these groups constitute hate crimes since they are targeting communities based on their religious beliefs,\u201d Cloud said.<\/p>\n<p>The congressman warned Garland that without any investigative DOJ action, attacks in the wake of the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion would \u201ccontinue to result in religious hate crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmericans are growing increasingly fearful of these attacks reaching their churches,\u201d he added. \u201cWhat steps are you currently taking in response to investigate the newly reported instances of hate crimes against Christian churches?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/crt\/offenses-against-reproductive-health-care-providers\">prohibits<\/a>\u00a0\u201cviolent, threatening, damaging and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right\u201d to obtain abortions.<\/p>\n<p>Garland <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/statement-attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-regarding-texas-sb8-0\">cited the FACE Act<\/a> in a September statement condemning Texas\u2019s pro-life SB8, promising to \u201cprotect those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services pursuant to our\u00a0criminal and civil\u00a0enforcement of the FACE Act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will not tolerate violence against those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services, physical obstruction or property damage in violation of the FACE Act,\u201d he added at the time.<\/p>\n<p>In a Saturday interview with The Daily Wire, former Vice President Mike Pence <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/pence-calls-on-biden-to-speak-out-forcefully-against-potential-violence-against-justices-disruptions-of-catholic-masses\">called<\/a> on President Joe Biden to \u201cspeak out forcefully\u201d on demonstrations at the homes of the Supreme Court justices and at Catholic masses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Biden should speak out forcefully, make it clear that those who support his view on abortion, on the Supreme Court, let their voice be heard, but heard peacefully and respect the law,\u201d Pence said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe president of the United States is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd he ought to make it very, very clear that anyone who would engage in violence or threaten violence or disrupt religious services would be held to the strictest account.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden, often described as a \u201cdevout Catholic\u201d by his staff, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/white-house-condemns-violence-threats-or-vandalism-amid-protests-at-homes-of-supreme-court-justices-and-pro-life-centers\">has not specifically weighed<\/a> in on the protesting at churches.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, the White House condemned acts of \u201cviolence, threats, or vandalism\u201d after vandals set fire to a pro-life clinic in Wisconsin, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlexanderShur\/status\/1523320097993076737\">scrawling on the clinic wall<\/a>: \u201cIf abortions aren\u2019t safe, then you aren\u2019t either.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Biden strongly condemns this attack and political violence of any stripe,\u201d the statement said. \u201cThe\u00a0President has made clear throughout his time in public life that Americans have the fundamental right to express themselves under the Constitution, whatever their point of view. But that expression must be peaceful and free of violence, vandalism, or attempts to intimidate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also tweeted that Biden \u201cstrongly believes in the Constitutional right to protest,\u201d but emphasized that \u201cshould never include violence, threats, or vandalism.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As pro-abortion rights protestors react to news Roe v. Wade might soon be overturned, Republican Texas Rep. Michael Cloud is calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the targeting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":496,"featured_media":1482645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1471979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/496"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1471979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1482645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1471979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1471979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1471979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}