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DOJ Sues Over Alleged Violent Disruption at New Jersey Synagogue Using FACE Act

The case applies a clinic‑access law to protect religious worship for what officials call a first‑of‑its‑kind use.

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Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon speaks at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 7, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo
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Overview

  • The civil complaint filed Sept. 29 in the District of New Jersey names individual defendants and the New Jersey chapters of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and American Muslims for Palestine.
  • Prosecutors allege threats, intimidation, and assaults at Congregation Ohr Torah on Nov. 13, 2024, including antisemitic chants, blaring vuvuzelas, and an alleged chokehold on a worshipper.
  • The Justice Department seeks a broad injunction to bar future FACE Act violations at synagogues and to prevent interference with worshippers across New Jersey.
  • Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet K. Dhillon said the filing is a civil action at this stage, with criminal charges not ruled out.
  • Officials characterized the lawsuit as the DOJ’s first use of the FACE Act to address interference with religious worship, a law more commonly used in abortion‑clinic obstruction cases.