The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against a pair of Arizona-based anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups accused of “threatening” and “harassing” religious communities working with migrants and refugees.
The lawsuit filed against several members of Patriot Movement AZ and AZ Patriots seeks unspecified punitive damages and asks a federal judge to order them to stop their practices.
The lawsuit also accused the groups of conspiring to violate the churches’ civil rights, defaming the pastors and trespassing on private property.
The SPLC and pastors from various Phoenix-area churches say members of the group accused church leaders of human and sex trafficking, trespassed on private property and refused to leave until police arrived. It also claims they secretly recorded immigrant children who were playing outside.
They contend the groups’ actions made it more difficult to recruit volunteers and led to some churches to cut back on helping.
