DOJ Investigates Protest of Democrat’s Event at Jewish Temple

The Department of Justice is investigating a disruptive protest of a Democrat congressman’s speaking engagement at a Jewish temple.

On Jan. 27, protesters with the left-wing activist group Climate Defiance interrupted a constituent event of Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., at the Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn, New York.

Suozzi was one of seven Democrats to vote for a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that enforces federal immigration law, in January, but has since released a statement expressing regret for his vote.

In videos widely circulated on social media, the protesters hurl profane insults at Suozzi, seize a microphone, and resist being escorted out of the religious space.

The probe comes as the Justice Department is prosecuting former CNN anchor Don Lemon for allegedly disrupting a church service in Minnesota, under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

In a statement to Newsday, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote, “We will investigate this incident and prosecute any individuals we determine committed a federal crime.”

She added, “The Civil Rights Division does not tolerate violence or destruction of property motivated by religious animus. And the rise in antisemitism across the country in recent years demonstrates the importance of robust enforcement of our civil rights laws.”

In response to the DOJ’s probe, Climate Defiance founder Michael Greenberg said in a statement Wednesday that although “federal law prohibits interrupting a religious service,” Suozzi’s event does not constitute a religious service.

In Greenberg’s description, “what happened, rather, was that several people spoke up at an event that happened to take place in a religious space.”

Climate Defiance and Suozzi’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the probe.

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