A federal judge has dismissed the Trump Justice Department's lawsuit against a group of pro-Palestinian activists who protested a real estate auction of land in Gaza and the West Bank outside a New Jersey synagogue, ruling that the government failed to lay the legal groundwork for its claims. U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden found the DOJ had not shown that protesters interfered with religious worship through force or threat of force, dealing a blow to what had been billed as a first-of-its-kind use of a law historically reserved for abortion clinic cases.
According to New York Daily News, the lawsuit included a sole count under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, better known as the FACE Act, which was passed in 1994 after bombings targeting reproductive health clinics and murders of doctors who worked in them. The law also includes a subsection barring interference with access to houses of worship, and the DOJ's Civil Rights Division invoked that provision for the first time in this New Jersey case, per the same report.
Hayden defined a threat of force under the statute as a constitutionally unprotected true threat involving serious intent to commit unlawful violence against a particular person or group, noting that political hyperbole does not qualify, the Daily News reported. The judge warned that applying the FACE Act too broadly would make every push, shove, brawl or forceful conduct during a protest automatically a violation of the law.
How the Dispute Began
The government's complaint accused six demonstrators and organizations, including American Muslims for Palestine-New Jersey and the Party for Socialism and Liberation New Jersey, of violating the FACE Act subsection, the article notes. The underlying conflict traced back to a real estate fair initially planned at the West Orange home of Moshe Glick in November 2024, an event that advertised Jerusalem projects, no-interest deals, discounted pricing and what organizers described as a spiritual event, according to the Daily News.
The land being marketed was recognized under U.S. and international law as occupied Palestinian territories, per the same report. On November 3, 2024, Tova Fry delivered a letter to Glick threatening legal action over the auction, and the complaint accused her of photographing Glick's house, with the act captured on Glick's Ring camera, the outlet reported. As reported by Ynetnews, organizers moved the gathering to Congregation Ohr Torah after threats and harassment directed at Glick's home, including the delivery of that signed letter from anti-Israel activists.
The Nov. 13 Confrontation
Fry protested outside the synagogue with dozens of demonstrators on Nov. 13, 2024, according to the Daily News. During the protest, David Silberberg allegedly pepper-sprayed Altaf Sharif, while Sharif blew a horn in Moshe Glick's face, per the same account. Glick and Silberberg were ultimately charged with felony assault in connection with the confrontation, the outlet reported, and as noted by JNS, the synagogue was simultaneously hosting the Israeli real estate fair Glick organized, which Silberberg attended, while religious activities were also taking place.
Glick, who faced state charges stemming from the confrontation, received a pardon from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy in January, JNS reported. Hayden found that the allegations could just as easily support the inference that Glick and Silberberg interfered with Sharif's own First Amendment right to be part of the protest, the outlet noted.
Why the Judge Said the Case Fell Short
Hayden ruled the complaint did not adequately connect Sharif's alleged violence to any intentional interference with religious exercise, according to JNS. The government also alleged that Glick had set aside a room for communal prayer and study at his home, but the judge found the complaint did not establish that the planned prayer space qualified as a place of religious worship under the FACE Act, per the Daily News.
The DOJ had cited a 2002 Planned Parenthood case involving wanted posters targeting anti-abortion activists to bolster its claims, but Hayden found the government failed to allege that Fry used or published the photo of Glick's house in a manner resembling the conduct in that earlier case, the outlet reported. The DOJ now has 30 days to file an amended complaint if it does not abandon the case altogether, per the Daily News.
Reactions From Both Sides
Emma Vasta-Kuby welcomed the judge's ruling, saying the DOJ cannot use the case to intimidate and silence people on Palestine, according to the Daily News. Kiersten Pels said the department is reviewing the court's order and evaluating next steps, the outlet reported.
The case had drawn broader scrutiny of how the Trump administration is wielding the FACE Act. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the department's application of the law to synagogues paved the way for its use to defend churches, according to Fox News, and said the department is reviewing similar incidents elsewhere, warning that additional enforcement actions could follow. Dhillon attributed the shift toward more aggressive civil-rights enforcement to a rise in antisemitic incidents since the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, per the same report.
Meanwhile, the Center for Reproductive Rights accused Trump's DOJ of selectively enforcing the FACE Act in a separate lawsuit, according to the Daily News, pointing to the administration's choice to pardon 23 people convicted of violating the law in connection with blocking access to reproductive health clinics in 2025. Activists involved in the West Orange protest have said they were demonstrating against real estate fairs marketing property in Israeli settlements rather than targeting a faith group, according to NorthJersey.com.
