The RFI report bemoans an “almost non-existent public response from the Department of Justice, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and national media.”
“There was a time in America when if a church was attacked, a place of worship was attacked, a religious organization was attacked, people across the political, philosophical, and religious spectrum condemned it, government officials condemned it, and government authorities responded strongly,” Nathaniel Hurd, RFI’s director of the North America Action Team and senior fellow for public policy, told EWTN News Nightly Sept. 8.
“They investigated, they arrested, they prosecuted, they secured convictions. By contrast, we’ve seen this silence. And so it seems as if there’s a different standard for religious people who hold views that are not necessarily shared by the current administration,” he said.
RFI commissioned a former FBI counterterrorism and intelligence expert to assess the threat and provide recommendations. The report recommends that pro-life organizations devote more resources to security and security training for staff and volunteers, invest in relationships with law enforcement agencies, and step up their insurance.
The RFI report notes that many of the documented attacks may rise to the level of federal crimes, stating that it is a federal crime when anyone “intentionally obstructs, by force or threat of force, including by threat of force against religious real property, any person in the enjoyment of that person’s free exercise of religious beliefs, or attempts to do so.” Under the same federal statute it is also a crime when someone “intentionally defaces, damages, or destroys any religious real property, because of the religious character of that property, or attempts to do so.”
The government has a responsibility to protect the public, regardless of their views on contentious issues, Hurd said.
“It is imperative that pro-life congregations and organizations, and responsible media outlets, take the current threat environment seriously and that government authorities act decisively to prevent, investigate, and prosecute criminal attacks against these institutions,” the report reads.
“These crimes not only imperil American citizens, their institutions, their property, and, often, their life’s work,” the report continues. “When aimed at pro-life congregations and organizations motivated by religious conviction, they also constitute assaults on the inalienable right of religious freedom guaranteed to all Americans in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”