Seattle pastor details wild scene after worship event 'swarmed' by protesters
A Seattle pastor is speaking out after violent protests engulfed a worship event earlier in May and persisted in a follow-up event on Tuesday outside City Hall.
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.
The event was later "swarmed" by protesters, some of whom reportedly threw urine-filled water balloons at attendees, and more than 20 arrests were made.
"[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."
"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.
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.
"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'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+ neighborhood."
While the mayor seemed to pin blame on the Christian group, Johnson rejected the notion that the Mayday event was designed to "provoke" a reaction.
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.
"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.
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.
"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.
The pastor noted that after announcing Tuesday's rally, he was "inundated" with support from people beyond Christian and conservative circles who wanted to "stand with Christians at City Hall because we believe in the First Amendment."
Harrell's 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 — particularly those that are marginalized, like our LGBTQ+ community."
Craighead added at the time: "As a Christian himself, the mayor is guided by the Christian values of love and justice, and his comments have specifically addressed ideologies that are in contrast to Seattle's commitment to being a welcoming city for all. Like any faith community, Christianity is not a monolith — and many Christians throughout Seattle do not hold the beliefs expressed by the organizers of the Mayday rally."
Johnson criticized Harrell's stance, arguing the Seattle mayor has "terminated his political career by releasing those statements."
"It's a clown show with these leftist, agitator-supporting politicians who are so out of touch with a wide swath of their constituents," he said.
Harrell's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment for this article.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Tuesday he had requested an investigation into allegations of "targeted violence" against religious groups after the rally at Seattle City Hall in response to the mayor purportedly blaming Christian activists for igniting a weekend demonstration that turned violent.
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