A Seattle pastor devoured a week in the violent protests in early May and spoke out at a follow-up outside City Hall.
Organizers held a Mayday American rally at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle on Saturday, catching Northwest pastor Russell Johnson helped lead the pull. The event reportedly offers free hairstyles for the community, free bike giveaways and free groceries, as well as time for prayer and worship.
The event was later “swalking” by protesters, some of which reportedly threw water balloons filled with urine at attendees and arrested more than 20 times.
“[Saturday’s] Of course, the media tags the activity as some kind of anti-LGBT type of assembly, which is not. ”
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“We were swarmed by hundreds of Antifa militants … they were throwing urine at Christians standing in the park and being attacked for their high crime of worshiping Jesus in public places,” Johnson told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office issued a statement defending the LGBTQ community and protesters while criticizing the violent response of the “far-right rally” after police reported multiple arrests at a rally on Saturday.
“Seattle is known for our passionate, inclusive cities as LGBTQ+ communities, and we stand with trans neighbors when they face paranoia and injustice,” the statement said. “For this reason, the far-right rally held today is here – promoting responses at the heart of Seattle’s most remarkable LGBTQ+ communities by promoting beliefs with our city’s values.”
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While the mayor seems to blame the Christian community, Johnson rejected the idea that the Mayday event was intended to “inspire” the response.
While a portion of the assembly provides a space for parents and individuals who have cancelled the transition to share their testimony and highlighted the focus on trans ideology, Johnson said it was done in a way that “exciting, hopeful, God can change, Jesus has the power to change your life”.
“This is not this Westborough Baptist, abominable remark. When God starts working in your life, there is hope, optimistic prospect for its appearance,” he told Ingraham.
In response to the mayor, Johnson helped host an event at Seattle City Hall on Tuesday, saying the protesters’ opposition was “similar”.
“Antifa worked. They bleed and beat people from the good church, they stood together, tried to attend the rally, sang hymns and worship songs, and prayed for the direction of the city,” Johnson said.
The pastor noted that after announcing Tuesday’s rally, he was “overwhelmed” with support from people outside Christian and conservative circles who wanted to “stand with the Town Hall with Christians because we believe in the First Amendment.”
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Callie Craighead, Harrell’s press secretary, had previously told Fox News Digital that Harrell “still remain unwavering in his remarks condemning him, their message promotes exclusion, intolerance and undermines the dignity and rights of any community members, especially those who are marginalized, especially those who are as marginalized as our LGBTQ+ community.”
At the time, Craighead added: “As a Christian himself, the mayor’s guidance Christian values Commentary on love and justice, his ideology is contrary to Seattle’s promise to become a welcome city for everyone. Like any faith community, Christianity is not a giant, and many Christians in Seattle do not hold the belief expressed by the organizers of the Mayday assembly. ”
Johnson criticized Harrell’s position, saying that the mayor of Seattle “stopped his political career by releasing these remarks.”
“It’s a clown show, and these leftists, politicians supported by the agitators are different from other people,” he said.
Harrell’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on this article.
Deputy Director of the FBI Dan Bongino said Tuesday he requested an investigation into allegations of “targeted violence” against religious groups by the rally at the Seattle City Hall rally in response to the mayor’s alleged blaming Christian activists for his igniting weekend demonstrations that turned into violence.
Lindsay Kornick of Fox News Digital contributed to the report.
