The Orleans religious community that reared Aaron Bushnell , the airman who last year lit himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. , to protest the killings of Palestinians in Gaza, is being sued in federal court for allegedly forcing minors to work construction without pay, records show.

A former child resident filed the lawsuit last month in US District Court in Boston against the Community of Jesus Inc., which sits on some 60 acres of family homes and church buildings, including a stone basilica, in the Cape Cod town, according to legal filings. The group’s arts center is located in Brewster, records show.

The group rose to prominence in February 2024 after the 25-year-old Bushnell, who grew up in the enclave but left in 2019 without taking vows to become

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