U.S. Department of Justice attorneys have asked a judge to indefinitely pause their lawsuit against pro-Palestinian protesters over a rowdy rally outside a West Orange synagogue that left a protester seriously injured.
The protesters, though, have urged the court to deny any postponement, saying the feds’ lawsuit has widespread First Amendment implications.
Attorney Ronald L. Kuby represents Tova Fry, 76, of West Orange, who was among four people and two groups the feds sued in September over the November 2024 protest outside Congregation Ohr Torah. The Trump administration filed its complaint under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, the first lawsuit to apply the 1994 law — which was meant to protect abortion providers and patients — to houses of worship.
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“This lawsuit has a chilling effect on others who would peacefully and legally protest,” Kuby wrote last week. “Resolution of this civil case, the first of its type, should provide valuable guidance to all persons regarding what conduct in the form of protest can, and cannot, result in sanctions by the Government. Such guidance is particularly timely as Americans across the country are in the streets protesting.”
Attorney Sonya M. Sumner, who represents protester Altaf Sharif, agreed the case should proceed or be dismissed so that it does not “linger in prosecutorial purgatory indefinitely.”
“Politically and civically engaged people, on all sides of the political spectrum, need to be informed if marching on a public sidewalk, with a police escort, is no longer a lawful activity in this country,” Sumner wrote in a Monday filing.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s civil rights division asked for the stay in two briefs filed last month. Dhillon told the court a stay would allow a parallel criminal investigation she said the feds have initiated to proceed unimpeded.
It would benefit the defendants, too, she added.
“By staying the civil action now, defendants are relieved from the immediate burden of answering or denying the complaint’s allegations, which could otherwise implicate their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination or provide potential impeachment evidence in any subsequent criminal trial through inconsistent statements,” Dhillon wrote.
Sumner countered: “That argument is Mr. Sharif’s to make, not the Government’s, and he is not requesting this stay.”
Sharif and other activists had been protesting outside the synagogue in opposition to the sale of land occupied by Palestinians to Jewish settlers when an encounter with Moshe Glick, the sale’s organizer, and another sale attendee, David Silberberg, turned violent.
Both sides have offered different accounts of the skirmish but police reports and the feds’ lawsuit agree that Silberberg pepper-sprayed Sharif and Glick bashed Sharif in the head with a metal flashlight. Sharif got four staples to close a head wound, the reports say. Glick has argued he hit Sharif to protect Silberberg from Sharif’s attack.
Sumner noted that while the feds “smeared” Sharif as a “violent antisemitic menace,” local authorities deemed him a victim. The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office indicted Glick and Silberberg for crimes including assault, although former Gov. Phil Murphy pardoned Glick last month on his last day in office. The case against Silberberg is proceeding.
This lawsuit has a chilling effect on others who would peacefully and legally protest.
– Attorney Ronald L. Kuby
Both defense attorneys noted the rarity of plaintiffs seeking a stay of litigation they initiated, as well as federal officials acting as both civil plaintiff and criminal prosecutor in the same case. A stay request based on a criminal investigation is premature because there is no — and may never be — a federal criminal indictment, they added.
They also blasted the feds’ fanfare in announcing the civil lawsuit, with Kuby pointing to a press conference and press release by Justice officials who called Tova Fry “evil.” The protesters deserve their day in court to defend themselves against the feds’ “baseless” accusations, the defense attorneys said.
“She has been labeled a Hamas supporter and enabler of terror in the press,” Kuby wrote. “The government now wants to stop her from answering these allegations.”
Glick called the Essex County prosecutors who indicted him “rogue” during a hearing Monday in Washington, D.C., held by Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission.
“If the Essex County, New Jersey, prosecutor can weaponize the government against honest, hard-working citizens like me, shielding aggressors while targeting defenders, we are all in great peril,” Glick said.
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