Minneapolis church protesters charged under 1870 law

The Justice Department has charged three protesters who disrupted a Minneapolis church service using an anti-Ku Klux Klan law. This is the first time in U.S. history that the department filed charges under the Enforcement Act of 1870, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, said Jesus Osete, the principal deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights. The department has also charged the protesters with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which protects the accessibility of houses of worship and pro-life clinics, he wrote on social media Sunday.

The three protesters, Chauntyll Allen, Nekima Levy Armstrong, and William Kelly, were part of a crowd of demonstrators who interrupted a service on Jan. 18 at Cities Church. Federal agents took the three into custody Thursday.

What is the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1870? The law was created to protect the rights of African-Americans during the Reconstruction era. At that time, members of the Ku Klux Klan terrorized black citizens who exercised their right to vote, ran for public office, and served on juries, according to the U.S. Senate. The law prohibited people from banding together to go to the premises of another with the intention of violating citizens’ constitutional rights.

How did the protesters disrupt Cities Church’s service? In a criminal affidavit, Homeland Security Investigations detailed the demonstrators’ disruption. The document, made public on Friday, alleged that protesters intimidated, harassed, oppressed, and terrorized the parishioners, including young children. Because disruptors cut the church service short, congregants fled the church, which allegedly resulted in one person falling and getting injured, according to the affidavit.

One congregant was allegedly afraid that the agitators had guns underneath their jackets, while another said the incident felt like what it would be like to be in a mass shooting, according to the affidavit. One congregant told Homeland Security agents that Kelly shouted at children that their parents were Nazis who were going to burn in hell. Some protesters allegedly blocked the church stairs, preventing parents from getting their children, according to the affidavit. 

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report on the release of the arrested protesters from detention until their trial.