Since the moment he took office, Joe Biden and his administration have engaged in a full-fledged campaign to weaponize the federal government against their political opponents and people of faith.
Recently, 11 anti-abortion protesters were convicted for peacefully protesting and praying at a Tennessee abortion clinic in 2021. Their crime? Arriving at an abortion clinic before it opened and sitting in prayer while handing out flyers that shared the value of human life.
These pro-life activists were convicted under the "Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances" (FACE) Act, a 1994 statute that makes it a federal crime to interfere in any way with a person’s attempt to get medical services.
Initially, the FACE Act was passed to protect both the supposed right to access abortions and the right to protest peacefully, as well as the safety of churches and pregnancy centers. Sadly, churches and pregnancy resource centers have been subject to a spree of violent attacks in the wake of the Dobbs decision, to which the Biden administration has turned a blind eye.
However, under the Biden administration’s weaponized Justice Department, the FACE Act is primarily being used to go after people of faith who stand up for what they believe and protest to protect innocent life. Each of these 11 peaceful protesters now faces up to 10 and a half years in prison and fines of up to $260,000 for participating in that day of prayerful protest.
Luckily, Congressman Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, have moved to repeal the FACE Act and replace it with a bill of their own, titled the "Restoring the First Amendment and Right to Peaceful Civil Disobedience" Act, which would prevent the Biden administration from weaponizing the federal government against Christian conservatives.
But the weaponization of government against conservatives and people of faith doesn’t end there. After a man took down a Satanist statute that was placed in the Iowa state Capitol building last December, he was charged with a felony hate crime.
PRO-LIFE PROTESTERS CONVICTED OF VIOLATING FEDERAL LAW FOR BLOCKING ABORTION CLINIC DOOR
Iowa law defines this as a violation of individual rights, even though the Satanic temple explicitly admits it is not a religious organization with a belief in a higher power. Not only is Iowa making a mockery of the free exercise of religious rights by treating the Satanists as a religious organization, but Iowa is also making a mockery of the justice system by labeling this destruction of property as a hate crime.
Perhaps even more disturbingly, in 2021, the Biden administration released a memo instructing the Department of Justice to go after concerned parents at school board meetings after receiving a letter that compared these parents to "domestic terrorists." Last year, it was also revealed that the FBI mounted a spying program on traditional Catholics (particularly those interested in the Latin Mass) and identified them as individuals who might be part of the "far-right nationalist movement."
In the eyes of the Biden Department of Justice, these Christian patriots are the actual threat to the American way of life – not the criminals who are carjacking, terrorizing and even killing everyday Americans in our cities.
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Many of these conservative Christians are facing harsher penalties than those who committed acts of arson and vandalism in the BLM riots of 2020 and even the six illegal immigrants who recently assaulted multiple police officers in New York City, five of whom were released on bail.
The administration has clearly made use of the justice system against their political enemies. It’s clear they consider everyone who opposes their views as their enemies as well.
These unprecedented acts of weaponization of the Justice Department prove that the Biden administration is eager to deploy the full force of the federal government against its perceived political enemies while letting real crimes, such as the D.C. riots and the destruction of federal property, go unpunished.
As Americans continue to fall victim to rising crime and violence in their neighborhoods, the Biden administration should focus on keeping our communities safe and putting real criminals behind bars. The Department of Justice should never be used as a weaponized arm of the executive branch to harass, intimidate, and stifle political opposition.
The American people should demand better from the Biden administration. If President Biden continues to go after Christians and other people of faith while letting the real criminals run free, "justice" remains nowhere to be found in the DOJ except for its name.
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Matt Whitaker is the former acting U.S. attorney general and a senior fellow at the American Cornerstone Institute.
