Sponsor
Buddy Carter
Representative · R-GA
The resolution strengthens protections and enforcement against disruptive conduct at houses of worship but risks chilling lawful protest and may unfairly single out individuals in legislative findings.
Worshippers at Cities Church and other houses of worship are explicitly affirmed as entitled to worship without intimidation, reinforcing federal protections for religious assembly.
Religious organizations and local authorities gain clearer grounds for DOJ enforcement against individuals who enter services to violently or obstructively disrupt worship, increasing the likelihood of prosecution for such conduct.
A named private individual (Don Lemon) and similar public figures could suffer reputational harm from being singled out in legislative findings without adjudication.
National figures and ordinary citizens who engage in nonviolent but disruptive protest may be chilled from lawful free expression by broad condemnations that risk blurring protest and criminality.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expresses findings condemning disruption of a worship service, cites FACE Act and First Amendment, and criticizes public figures who join or amplify such conduct.
Representative · R-GA
Official title: Condemning the violent disruption of a religious worship service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, reaffirming the constitutional right to religious freedom, and commending the Department of Justice for its prompt investigation.
Introduced January 30, 2026 by Buddy Carter · Last progress January 30, 2026
Declares that a January 18, 2026 protest that interrupted a worship service at Cities Church in St. Paul, MN violated statutory protections for places of worship and infringed on religious free exercise; it condemns participation or amplification of such conduct by public figures. The resolution frames legislative findings and policy rationale but does not change law, create obligations, or authorize funding.