Source: Lansing State Journal, Bash Back website

Detail from a graphic on Bash Back! site

A right-wing legal group has filed suit against a group of protesters who disrupted a Sunday service at a church near Lansing, Mich. in November.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court Wednesday by Phoenix-based Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of Mount Hope Church.

Ironically, the suit charges that protesters “violated the Church’s civil rights under the federal Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances Act (FACE)”.

FACE was adopted by Congress in 1994. It was designed to prevent right wing protesters from using “intimidation or force” to block access to family-planning and abortion clinics, but also includes a provision prohibiting intimidation to prevent a person from “exercising freedom to worship at a religious facility”. [Wikipedia]

The suit asks for punitive and compensatory damages.

“They don’t have the right to come in and terrorize the congregation,” said Kevin Theriot, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, according to Lansing State Journal.

The suit stems from a protest staged November 9 at the church by an informal network of queer anarchists calling themselves “Bash Back”.

Michigan church sues network of ‘queer anarchists’ for November protest [contd.]

In a November web posting, a member Bash Back characterized the protest at the time as “extremely loud and wildly offensive.”

Bash Back reported yesterday on the group’s website that at least 23 people associated with Bash Back! are named in a subpoena that has been served to people in Milwaukee and Lansing and is believed to be related to the lawsuit.

An anonymous poster writes that Bash Back members believe subpoenas have also been prepared for people in Chicago and other Midwestern Cities who are associated with the group

Bash Back documented its own protest in website postings in November. The reports from the group indicate that its sympathizers did not attempt to prevent anyone from entering the church.

According to the group’s own report, some Bash Back sympathizers quietly settled into seats inside church, while others protested loudly outside. Once inside, according to the network’s web account, the protesters sprang to action by pulling the fire alarm, and throwing fliers, while yelling at the congregation. Some began to make out in front of the pastor, Bash Back recounted in November.

A team that had been hiding under the pews in a closed-off balcony dropped a banner and pulled back the curtains to reveal "IT'S OKAY TO BE GAY! BASH BACK!".

Source: Mount Hope Church sues gay rights group | Lansing State Journal
Mount Hope Church v. Bash Back [pdf] | Federal suit

state_mi, bash back