The FBI is investigating the city of Seattle after the mayor pointed the finger of blame at a group of Christians who were assaulted by rioters while participating in a worship and prayer rally. News of the violent counter-protest has gone viral, even sparking a response at the White House. As CBN News has reported, the grassroots movement #DontMessWithOurKids gathers thousands of believers together in every state to pray for a move of God to protect America’s children and turn around the U.S. education system. The organization kicked off MayDay USA at the beginning of last month to bring the major prayer movement and evangelism outreach to five cities in the U.S. and to see the “sacredness of gender and family as defined by God” restored. One of those cities was Seattle, Washington. “We came to worship and pray but also to stand up for children and families to say as a church family—don’t mess with our kids,” Bunni Pounds, the president and founder of Christians Engaged, shared.
From the start, organizers faced opposition for wanting to gather peacefully and pray at the Seattle event which was scheduled on May 24th. Organizers from Mayday USA said they initially sought to hold their event at Pike Place Market, but the city denied that permit and redirected the group to Cal Anderson Park – an area within “the most prominent gay neighbourhood.” In response to the rally, numerous rioters set up in the park at the same time including the “Radical Women Seattle” group which told the local news affiliate that they were there to protest “fascist family values.” “The rally was aimed to counter the well-funded anti-trans, anti-queer event that is led by far-right Christian activists. The Mayday USA rally in Seattle is provocatively being held in the heart of the Queer community,” a spokesperson for Radical Women Seattle claimed before the rally. Pounds described what took place that day: “Many hundreds of protesters arrived, estimated to be 500 to 1,000, that lined our permitted area with signs, bullhorns, extended fingers, and vulgar shouts.
According to the Seattle Police Department, authorities worked to get the two groups apart, but “multiple people inside one group throw items at the opposing group around 1:30 PM Saturday.” “Officers immediately moved to arrest the people responsible, and while taking the individuals into custody, were assaulted by more protesters, resulting in even more arrests. In total, officers arrested 11 during the initial scuffle,” Sergeant Patrick Michaud explained. Authorities made 12 additional arrests throughout the afternoon for obstruction and assault. One officer was injured. In total, police arrested 22 individuals for charges of assault and obstruction, according to Michaud. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell later issued a statement suggesting the group of Christians who gathered were to blame for the violence and characterized the event as a “far-right rally.” “Seattle is proud of our reputation as a welcoming, inclusive city for LGBTQ+ communities, and we stand with our trans neighbours when they face bigotry and injustice.
Today’s far-right rally was held here for this very reason – to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values, in the heart of Seattle’s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighbourhood,” he said in a statement. “Anarchists infiltrated the counter-protesters group and inspired violence, prompting SPD to make arrests and ask organizers to shut down the event early, which they did,” he continued. “In the face of an extreme right-wing national effort to attack our trans and LGBTQ+ communities, Seattle will continue to stand unwavering in our embrace of diversity, love for our neighbours, and commitment to justice and fairness.” The mayor is not the only city official trying to blame the group of Christian worshippers who were holding a peaceful event. Seattle City Council member Bob Kettle says issuing the permit to the MayDay USA organizers was a “mistake” and he claimed the group intentionally targeted the gay neighbourhood with its outreach.
“I believe in the group’s ability to protest but it was a mistake to grant it at Cal Anderson Park. There are many parks and locations that could have accommodated the group. Cal Anderson should not have been on that list,” Kettle said. “That was intentional.” But Ross Johnston, one of the co-leaders of the revival service, tells CBN News in a YouTube interview that now has more than half a million views, that the city directly routed them to hold the rally at the controversial Cal Anderson Park location. And he said the counter-protesters clearly crossed the line with lewd and aggressive behaviour.” MayDay USA also rebuked the mayor’s statement calling for a unified response to his “false accusations and attempts to limit the freedom of Christian worship.” “We are calling the mayor to retract his statement, apologize or resign,” reads a statement on MayDay USA Instagram page. The mayor has also called for an investigation to determine if there could have been “legal location alternatives or other adjustments that could have been pursued.”
And Pastor Russell Johnson, another MayDay USA organizer, said that the city’s investigation is a political stunt. “That location was the idea that came from City Hall, and we followed their advice to try and show a good faith effort to work with the city,” Johnson explained. “That’s how we ended up at Cal Anderson and, of course, the mayor knows all of that. And then he releases a statement on Saturday evening, blaming the church. Well, we know nobody from the church was arrested on Saturday evening for violence. But 23 radical leftist Antifa members were.” “People in the crowd who had come to our worship event were physically assaulted. They had members there doing lewd sex acts in front of children. They were throwing water balloons filled with urine, you know, all sorts of things. And the police know who the good guys are and who are the bad guys, and so does City Hall,” he continued. Meanwhile, the FBI has announced it will investigate allegations of targeted violence against religious groups.
Dan Bongino, the FBI’s Deputy Director, said, “We have asked our team to fully investigate allegations of targeted violence against religious groups at the Seattle concert.” And Pastor Paula White-Cain spoke out from the White House saying, “The White House Faith Office condemns the violent disruption of Seattle’s MayDay USA worship event. We affirm the fundamental rights to free speech and religious freedom for all Americans, as protected by federal law. Public officials must protect the inalienable rights of all citizens, regardless of their faith or religious beliefs. We urge the City of Seattle to uphold these rights at all faith-based events, safeguarding the ability of people of faith to gather and express their beliefs without fear of harassment or violence.” “The White House Faith Office condemns the violent disruption of Seattle’s MayDay USA worship event. We affirm the fundamental rights to free speech and religious freedom for all Americans, as protected by federal law. Public officials must protect the inalienable rights of all.”
Source: CBNNews
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