By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) – A US judge dismissed a lawsuit against pro-Palestinian organizations and protesters that President Donald Trump’s administration brought last year under a law traditionally used against people blocking access to abortion clinics.
US District Judge Katharine Hayden in New Jersey said the government’s complaint did not adequately plead violations of the statute. She dismissed the claims without prejudice, saying the government can file an amended complaint within 30 days.
The case was brought under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, a 1994 law that prohibits the use of force and physical obstruction to interfere with people at reproductive health centers or houses of worship.
In September 2025, the Justice Department sued pro-Palestinian activists that it accused of intimidating attendees during a November 2024 protest against an event at a synagogue in New Jersey.
The event was billed by organizers as a spiritual service and real estate fair. It promoted the sale of property in Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The lawsuit said the protest escalated into violence, alleging the demonstrators physically assaulted some worshippers and chanted and used vuvuzelas – plastic trumpets sometimes used by soccer fans – to disrupt the event.
The Justice Department has brought several cases against protesters who have obstructed abortion clinics, but the case appeared to be the first time the law was used to allege interference with religious worship, according to Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The Justice Department under Trump has curtailed the use of the FACE Act in abortion-related cases, alleging that past criminal prosecutions represented an improper politicized use of law enforcement. Dhillon said those restrictions do not apply to cases related to houses of worship. Last year, Trump pardoned several people prosecuted under the law.
Trump has attempted to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters, threatened funding freezes for universities where protests were held, expanded social media screening of immigrants and imposed sanctions on some of Israel’s critics.
His administration says pro-Palestinian protesters are antisemitic and support extremists. Demonstrators say their criticism of Israeli attacks on Gaza and of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories does not amount to antisemitism, and their advocacy for Palestinian rights should not be equated with supporting extremism.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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