Congress proposes 500-foot protest-free zones around churches

A bipartisan bill has been introduced in Congress that would establish protest‑free buffer zones around houses of worship. The measure, titled the Houses of Worship Protection Act, was filed on Tuesday by Representative Mike Johnson (R‑TX) and Representative Jody Hice (R‑TX) and co‑sponsored by Senator Joe Manchin (D‑WV). It would create a 500‑foot exclusion zone around any place of worship where public demonstrations, speeches or other organized protests would be prohibited.

The bill follows a series of high‑profile incidents that have raised concerns about the safety of worshippers. In December 2022, a large protest outside a Manhattan synagogue drew police intervention after demonstrators clashed with security guards. That event was one of more than 2,000 protests that took place outside places of worship in 2022, according to a report by the Department of Justice. In 2023, the FBI recorded 1,