In United States v. Hari, (8th Cir., May 10, 2023), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality under the Commerce Clause of 18 USC §247. The statute bars damaging religious real property because of the religious character of the property, and bars obstructing a person's enjoyment of free exercise of religion by force or threat of force against them or against religious real property, when the person's conduct affects interstate commerce. The court said in part:
Here, the statute specifically requires that the offense “affects interstate or foreign commerce.” This “ensures, through a case-by-case inquiry, that each defendant’s [offense] affected interstate commerce.”
The court also upheld defendant's conviction under 18 USC § 924(c)(1) for carrying or using a destructive device during and in relation to any crime of violence. The conduct for which defendant was convicted was described by the court:
In August 2017, Emily Hari loaded a pickup truck with a 20 pound pipe bomb, two assault rifles, and a sledgehammer and drove with two confederates from Illinois to the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The trio smashed a window of the Imam’s office before the parishioners’ dawn prayer and threw gasoline, diesel fuel, and the pipe bomb inside. The bomb detonated. No one was injured; the building suffered fire and smoke damage. Hari and the others fled.
