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A growing number of U.S. states have introduced legislation that would make it a felony for protesters to disrupt church services or other places of worship, in an apparent effort to head off anti-ICE demonstrations like those that unfolded weeks earlier in Minnesota.
In Ohio, two GOP lawmakers introduced a new bill, HB 662, that would reclassify interfering with religious services from a first-degree misdemeanor to a fifth-degree felony. The authors of the legislation, Republican Reps. Tex Fischer and Johnathan Newman, pointed to the recent Minnesota unrest as the driver behind their new legislation.
“While every American has the right to peacefully protest ICE or any other government entity, they do not have a right to storm into a place of worship and disrupt another American’s right to freely practice their religion,” Fischer said.
“We cannot allow our country to be a place where families fear they may face harassment or see their religious services disrupted by activists attempting to score political points while attending church on a Sunday morning,” he added.
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Anti-ICE protesters gathered in Minnesota on Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law a Republican-led bill that strengthens penalties against demonstrators who disrupt church services in the state and creates a so-called “buffer zone” around worshipers to further protect churchgoers.
In Alabama, House lawmakers are preparing to vote on a Republican-backed bill that would make it a Class C felony for individuals to enter a church or place of worship with intent to disrupt a service. If passed, first-time violators could face up to 10 years in prison.
And in Idaho, a newly proposed bill seeks to add churches and religious services to the state’s “disturbing the peace” law, which currently applies to…
