Prosecution of church protesters hits snag over anti-Christian allegations

Before she left the Justice Department, Harmeet Dhillon launched the prosecution of several Americans who protested in a Minneapolis church, as well as the reporters there who covered the protest. She claimed that she brought the suit through the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice because those involved were anti-Christian. A court filing flips that argument on its head.

Nekima Levy Armstrong submitted a supplement to the record on Tuesday, making it clear that the threats the Justice Department alleges she was making were actually quotes from the Bible.

National security analyst Marcy Wheeler spotted the detail in the new filing that alleges the DOJ not only misquoted what Levy Armstrong said, but also appeared to miss that it was based in Christian teachings.

Levy Armstrong is alleged to have said, "The time for judgment has come," which was used to support the DOJ's claim that she was issuing a threat.

"A review of the grand jury testimony of pastor Parnell indicates that the Superseding Indictment inaccurately paraphrased the alleged statement and took it out of context," said the filing.

Parnell testified, "And then she [Levy Armstrong] said, 'We're, we're here to bring judgment and judgment begins in the House of God,' which I recognize as quoting scripture from 1st Peter 4."

The quote Parnell was referring to from 1 Peter 4 reads, "For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household; and 1 if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?"

He made it clear that he viewed the comment from her as her quoting scripture, not as her making a threat.

The filing also said that the government is alleging that Levy Armstrong said that she was a Christian and there to bring judgment.

Parnell said he "felt compelled to publicly rebuke her for that. So I said to her, 'Shame on you, shame on you to do this. This is the House of God. We're here to worship and you may leave.'"

Levy Armstrong's lawyer explained that she denies saying this. "Further, none of the audio recordings of the interaction between Parnell and Levy Armstrong provided by the government or obtained by the defense include such a statement. The defense, however, accepts that the question of whether she made the statement is a factual issue that cannot be resolved by the Court at this time."

The filing also said that she never heard Parnell ask her to leave the church and that none of the audio recordings from the government appear to have captured Parnell saying this either.

"The defense, however, accepts that the question of whether he made the statement is a factual issue that cannot be resolved by the Court at this time," the filing added again.

The filing goes on to say that there is a big difference between someone declaring "the time for judgment has come" and "we are here to bring judgment and judgment begins in the House of God."

The lawyers explain that the statement from the Gospel indicates that judgment ultimately comes from God and that the demonstrators weren't there to impose any kind of punishment.

Wheeler pointed out that there are several times that the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ appeared to miss that the Christians were quoting scripture back and forth with each other. So, accusing them of being anti-Christian or specifically targeting Christians to commit a hate crime doesn't hold up.

Parnell also doesn't state that it was a threat in his testimony; it was a conclusion made by the government. In fact, he didn't feel so threatened that he could publicly rebuke Leavy Armstrong from the pulpit.