NEWS PROVIDED BY
Rescue Resurrection
Jan. 30, 2026
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30, 2026 /Standard Newswire/ — Last night, ex-CNN Anchor Don Lemon was arrested and charged under the Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) in connection with the January 18th church service disruption at Cities Church in St. Paul Minnesota.
FACE was created to criminalize large scale civil disobedience at abortion businesses by making it a federal crime to block a “reproductive health facility”. However, before being signed into law in 1994 by then President Bill Clinton, language was added to include churches and therefore ensure bipartisan support.
Those large-scale protests targeted by the federal government under the new FACE law were organized by a group called Operation Rescue led by founder Randall Terry. Operation Rescue was the largest peaceful civil disobedience movement in American history culminating in 75,000 arrests starting in 1987 until the enactment of FACE.
However, since FACE was passed the law has been used almost exclusively against pro-lifers for peaceful protest at abortion facilities.
FACE became headline news when President Trump pardoned 23 individuals who were in federal prison after being tried and convicted under FACE, including Lauren Handy and Herb Geraghty with the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), and Joan Andrews Bell, who’s been arrested over 200 times for her pro-life activism. Several of the 23 defendants spent 17 months in federal prison before being pardoned, including Handy, Geraghty, and Bell.
So far, 7 people have been charged under FACE for the Church disruption, including: Georgia Fort, Trahern Jeen Crews, Jamael Lydell Lundy, Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen, and William Kelly.
Randall Terry says: “Prosecuting these Americans under FACE is an act of political tyranny. Civil disobedience is a matter for local law-enforcement and does not require the full weight and power of the federal government. If a law like face had existed in the 1960s and was used against Doctor King and the civil rights movement, it is very likely that the Jim Crow laws would’ve remained enforced for many more years.” Using FACE to punish peaceful civil disobedience is like using a cannon to kill a flea.”
Terrisa Bukovinac, founder of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU) says: “The FACE Act is a threat to all peaceful civil disobedience and therefore is a threat to democracy itself. No one should face years in federal prison for nonviolent protest, period. I’m calling on the Justice Department to cease all prosecutions of FACE and congress to repeal this unjust law”.
Herb Geraghty said, “Defenders of life and free speech should reject any weaponization of the FACE Act, whether it’s used against our allies or our perceived enemies. The federal government should have no role in hyper-criminalizing speech-based activity based on the message, viewpoint, or location. The FACE Act was unconstitutional the day it was signed, and it’s unconstitutional now.”
Randall Terry further states: “We call on the left and the right, progressives and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans to accomplish one simple goal: the complete repeal of FACE from federal law.
SOURCE Rescue Resurrection
CONTACT: Randall Terry, 901-233-4755