Ezra Jin, founder and pastor of Zion Church, and dozens of church staff and members have been arrested in China amid a crackdown on unregistered Christian churches.

Jin, a father of U.S. citizens, was detained Friday at his home in Beihai, Guangxi, while more than 30 pastors and staff were arrested or made unreachable starting Thursday, some facing criminal charges for “illegal dissemination of religious information via the internet.”

Witnesses reported police used violence during arrests, with at least one female pastor separated from her newborn.

Zion Church, which serves thousands weekly and operates both online and in person, had previously been raided in 2018 but re-emerged despite ongoing government scrutiny, NPR has reported.

Chinese officials defended the arrests as legal oversight of religious affairs, while church representatives and U.S. observers denounced the detentions, urging accountability and emphasizing that the church poses no political threat to China.