The Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) has sued the Idaho town of Troy for allegedly discriminating against a small evangelical church.
According to the DOJ, the Christ Church outgrew its worship space but was unable to find anywhere else to rent. So it then sought a conditional use permit (CUP) “to operate [its] church in the City’s C-1 zoning district, where nonreligious assembly uses such as clubs, museums, auditoriums, and art galleries were allowed.”
Local residents reportedly “vociferously opposed” the church’s CUP application, which would be fine, except that the city cited the public’s opposition and animus when ruling against the church. That, according to DOJ Civil Rights Division boss Harmeet Dhillon, was a problem.
“RLUIPA [the law] unequivocally forbids local governments from deciding zoning matters based on their dislike of certain religious groups,” she said in a statement. “The Department of Justice will not hesitate to file suit against jurisdictions that discriminate in land use matters on the basis of the applicants’ religious beliefs.”
A small Idaho town city council flexing their anti-Christian hate just got sued by Trump’s DOJ.
Let’s Go!!!!!https://t.co/Orw7b3pIrD pic.twitter.com/og6QTAMPgD
— Matt Edwards (@TrueMattEdwards) May 21, 2025
RLUIPA is short for the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a law passed in 2000 that’s designed to “protect individuals, houses of worship, and other religious institutions from discrimination in zoning and landmarking laws.”
The lawsuit says that Troy’s zoning policies treat religious assemblies worse than nonreligious assemblies. It also accuses Troy of having violated RLUIPA’s substantial burden, equal terms, and discrimination provisions.
The city has denied any wrongdoing.
“The permit was not denied because they were any particular church but because the demand they put on our scarce city resources,” city attorney Todd Richardson said in a statement to local station KHQ.
“The church meets multiple times a week on a street that has no off-street parking. They fill up the downtown parking and they flood the residential area. We have worked for two years with the Department of Justice trying to negotiate an agreement. We learned more about the DOJ’s position when they filed that complaint than when we did in the two years prior,” he added.
Christ Church is supposedly controversial because of its past actions, especially during the COVID pandemic.
“The church made national headlines in September 2020 after a few of its members were arrested for not wearing masks at an outside worship service protesting the city’s mask mandate,” according to Fox News.
Christians were Arrested While Singing Hymns in Idaho
Five innocent Christians were arrested for being in “violation of the coronavirus mask/social distancing order”
Why are citizens not putting a stop to this?
Meanwhile, left-wing radicals across Democratic states riot freely pic.twitter.com/1hXG2sStns
— Amy Mek (@AmyMek) September 24, 2020
Meanwhile, senior pastor Douglas Wilson is a bit of an eccentric who has written that he wants to transform America into a “Christian theocracy.”
“Wilson’s body of work — made up of over 40 books, thousands of blog posts and hundreds of hours of sermons and podcast appearances — amounts to a comprehensive blueprint for a spiritual and political ‘reformation’ that would transform America into a kind of Christian republic,” according to Politico.
In a statement made to Fox News, a Christ Church “elder” named Matt Meyer said that the church is ready and willing to work with the city to address its concerns about parking and other matters. But, he stressed, city officials “have never asked us for any sort of conditions” to do so.
Plus, he added, the complaints about parking appear to be bull, as most of the buildings around the area where the church worships are empty, and so are the parking lots on Sunday mornings when they meet.
Last year, the Biden DOJ, to its credit, sent a letter to state, county, and municipal officials throughout the country to “remind them of their obligations under RLUIPA.”
“The freedom to practice religion according to the dictates of one’s conscience is among our most fundamental rights, written into our Constitution and protected by our laws,” the letter read.
“In our increasingly diverse nation, and at a time when many faith communities face discrimination, the Department continues to steadfastly defend this basic freedom to ensure that all people may live according to their beliefs, free of discrimination, harassment, or persecution,” it continued.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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