![\"antifa\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/antifa-1721097057.5556-300x169.png\")
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A religious event in Seattle, partially led by organized by NW United Pastor Russell Johnson, was reportedly attacked by ‘hundreds’ of Antifa protesters May 31.<\/p>\n
Organizers hosted a Mayday USA rally at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle on Saturday, which The Pursuit NW Pastor Russell Johnson helped lead. The event reportedly offered free haircuts, free bike giveaways and free groceries for the community as well as time for prayer and worship.<\/p>\n
“[Saturday’s] event has, of course, been labeled by the media as some sort of anti-LGBT-type rally, and it wasn’t,” Johnson said Thursday on “The Ingraham Angle.”<\/p>\n
“We were swarmed by hundreds of Antifa militants… They were throwing water-balloons filled with urine at Christians who stood in the park and were assaulted for the high crime of worshiping Jesus in a public space,” Johnson told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This being Seattle, of course the mayor lost no time in blaming the folks at the rally.<\/p>\n
After police reported multiple arrests at Saturday’s rally, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office released a statement defending the LGBTQ community and protesters while criticizing the “far-right rally” for provoking the violent reaction.<\/p>\n
“Seattle is proud of our reputation as a welcoming, inclusive city for LGBTQ+ communities, and we stand with our trans neighbors when they face bigotry and injustice,” the statement read. “Today\u2019s far-right rally was held here for this very reason \u2014 to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city\u2019s values, in the heart of Seattle\u2019s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What were these radically hateful Christians doing –\u00a0 burning gays in gender-neutral effigy? Damning transgenders to the (however many gender-appropriate) pits of hell? Stoning lesbians en masse?<\/p>\n
While a portion of the rally provided a space for parents and individuals who had de-transitioned to share their testimony and highlight concerns with transgender ideology, Johnson said it was done in an “uplifting, hopeful, God can change anything, Jesus has the power to transform your life” way.<\/p>\n
“It wasn’t this Westboro Baptist, hateful rhetoric. It was people sharing a hopeful, optimistic outlook on what it looks like when God begins to work in your life,” he told Ingraham.<\/p>\n
In response to the mayor, Johnson helped organize an event at Seattle City Hall on Tuesday, which he said was met with “similar” opposition from protesters.<\/p>\n
“Antifa was out in force. They bloodied and beat up good church people who stood in line to try to get into a rally to sing hymns and worship songs and pray for the direction of the city,” Johnson said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And the mayor’s response?<\/p>\n
Harrell\u2019s press secretary, Callie Craighead, previously told Fox News Digital that Harrell “remains steadfast in his denouncement of rhetoric from groups whose messages promote exclusion, intolerance, and undermine the dignity and rights of any community member \u2014 particularly those that are marginalized, like our LGBTQ+ community.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Here is the crowning statement:<\/p>\n
Craighead added at the time: “As a Christian himself (<\/em>emphasis added)\u00a0the mayor is guided by the Christian values<\/u> of love and justice, and his comments have specifically addressed ideologies that are in contrast to Seattle\u2019s commitment to being a welcoming city for all. Like any faith community, Christianity is not a monolith \u2014 and many Christians throughout Seattle do not hold the beliefs expressed by the organizers of the Mayday rally.”Fox News<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Sources say 23 have been arrested to date, and at least one Seattle PD officer was hospitalized. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino\u00a0 says the Feds will be looking into the “targeted violence” against religious groups. Sure hope those violence-prone protesters remember that Jesus only advocated turning the other cheek once.<\/p>\n
Ah, summer is barely starting. “If you disagree, violently attack” is in the air. At least in Seattle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"