United States District Judge Gary L. Sharpe handed down a preliminary injunction on Friday against officials of New York officials for shutting down religious services which violated the First Amendment. What made things worse is that the same officials were also promoting and encouraging Black Lives Matter protests in their jurisdiction. Earlier this month, Catholic priests and Orthodox Jews came together to file a lawsuit against Governor Cuomo and other officials for violating their religious liberty. They argued that their rights were violated after religious gatherings were discouraged by officials who also joined mass gatherings of the protestors.

The federal judge agreed with on Friday saying that, “Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio could have just as easily discouraged protests, short of condemning their message, in the name of public health and exercised discretion to suspend enforcement for public safety reasons instead of encouraging what they knew was a flagrant disregard of the outdoor limits and social distancing rules.”

The judge ordered that Cuomo and the other officials must be prevented from enforcing limitations on indoor gathering greater than 25% of capacity and that there should be no limitations when it comes to outdoor gathering.

Cuomo is just one of the officials who have prevented religious gatherings within their area saying that holding services is dangerous and yet encourages the gathering of protestors who are out on the streets protesting and in some cases rioting and looting. This is just another example of how Democrats are willing to pander to the far-left that they are ready to sacrifice the rights of their constituents.

The mainstream media also played a part in demonizing religious people who want to hold services during this trying period. They ridiculed the need for a lot of people to perform their religious duties because of the danger it poses to spread the virus. Yet they are silent when it comes to protestors who for the most part ignore social distancing rules when they are out on the streets. The media has also targeted ordinary Americans who want to end the lockdowns and go back and restart their businesses.