Disrupting a Church Service Could Soon Be a Crime in Arizona

A Minneapolis church protest that made national headlines and led to the arrest of a well-known journalist is now influencing legislation in Arizona.

In January, an anti-immigration protest interrupted an ongoing church service, with attendees reportedly blocked from leaving and journalist Don Lemon among those arrested.

The incident drew national attention and pushed several state legislatures to examine existing protections for religious assemblies.

Arizona's response came in the form of House Bill 4117.

Representative Teresa Martinez (R-AZ) introduced the original measure, but the bill underwent a significant transformation when Senator John Kavanagh (R-AZ) applied a strike-everything amendment, a legislative procedure that removes all existing bill language and substitutes it with a fully revised version.

The new text redefined key terms and established clearer boundaries around who the law would cover.

Kavanagh acknowledged the Minnesota incident as the driving force behind the changes. "This is a Don Lemon law," he said at a March Senate committee hearing.

Strike-Everything Adjustments

The rewritten language made several notable updates. Where the original bill focused narrowly on disruptions inside traditional houses of worship, the new version broadened the scope to cover any location where religious services or activities regularly take place.

It also introduced a tiered penalty system that the original measure lacked, distinguishing between first-time offenders and more serious violations. Additionally, the amended text explicitly defined which conduct would qualify as a disruption, including loud noise, disorderly behavior, and profane language, removing the ambiguity that critics said existed in the earlier version.

Perhaps most significantly, the new text carved out specific exemptions, making clear that peaceful protest and general expressive activity would not be treated as criminal conduct under the law.

However, as currently written, the bill would make it a Class 1 misdemeanor to willfully disrupt a religious service.

That charge could mean up to six months in jail, fines of up to $2,500, and three years of probation. Under certain conditions, multiple participants, prior convictions, or the use of force or intimidation, the offense would rise to a Class 6 felony.

State Affairs reported that Senator Analise Ortiz (D-AZ) cautioned that vague language, combined with prosecutorial discretion, could result in First Amendment violations, particularly since the vast majority of Arizona criminal cases are resolved through plea agreements rather than trial.

The bill has advanced through the House and a Senate committee and is awaiting a floor vote.