Latest news with #Antifa
Fox News
3 hours ago
- General
- Fox News
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.
Wall Street Journal
17 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
A Ruinous ‘Summer of Rage'
Mike Gonzalez's op-ed 'George Floyd's Death Almost Consumed America in Revolution' (May 24) evokes what Portlanders suffered during 100 days of Antifa and Black Lives Matter riotous mayhem. But it isn't over. Encouraged by a feckless city government that tolerated lawlessness, Portland's fiery summer of love spawned revolutionary harm still felt today. In 2020 Portland lost its former pleasant appeal and entered a doom loop cycle. It has one of the lowest office occupancy rates in the country. Skyscrapers are for sale at a fraction of their previous value. Many buildings remain boarded up and tents clutter sidewalks, while their drug-addled occupants wander around like zombies threatening bystanders. Regular pedestrian traffic has plummeted. Victimized businesses have left with few replacements in sight. All this in a city once called 'America's most liveable.'
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Trans rights radicals surround mother holding baby at Christian group rally outside Seattle City Hall
Raving trans rights radicals surrounded a mother with three young children at a rally held by a Christian group outside Seattle City Hall Tuesday, video circulating on social media shows. The 'Rattle in Seattle' protest was organized by MayDay USA, which describes itself as a pro-life grassroots movement that defends traditional family values and units. The demonstrators descended on City Hall on Tuesday to rally against Seattle's woke mayor, Bruce Harrell, who blamed the conservative group for a weekend protest that turned violent. MayDay USA had held a demonstration on Saturday at the city's Cal Anderson Park that descended into chaos when left-wing counterdemonstrators stormed the event, resulting in 23 arrests. Harrell blamed the melee in the heart of the city's historically LGBTQ neighborhood on 'far-right' demonstrators and 'anarchists' who he said were 'promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city's values.' The weekend event was one leg of MayDay USA's five-city 'Don't Mess With Our Kids' tour, aimed at taking a stand against what the group sees as widespread indoctrination of America's children by the National Education Association 'in the ways of LGBTQ, social justice, and beyond,' the tour's website states. Tuesday's protest then also quickly descended into chaos when dueling demonstrations of trans activists and MayDay USA members faced off on the 4th Avenue steps of City Hall. One frightening video captured a woman carrying a baby, flanked by two young boys, surrounded by counterdemonstrators. A man, presumably the children's father, held the hands of boys, one of whom was clearly terrified by the melee and could be seen crying hysterically. Some members of the counterdemonstration urged the woman to get her kids out of harm's way before Seattle cops barged in and started separating the crowd from the family. What exactly happened before filming started and after the clip shared online ended could not be immediately ascertained. Meanwhile, MayDay USA blasted Harrell for pointing the finger at them for fomenting the violence at Saturday's rally. 'Following the MayDay USA worship event at Cal Anderson Park on Saturday, Mayor Harrell had the audacity to issue a press release blaming Christians for the premediated violence of Antifa which resulted in the hospitalization of Seattle Police Department personnel and the arrest of 23 Antifa agitators,' the organizers said in a statement. 'Under Mayor Harrell's leadership, the city of Seattle has continued its spiral into lawlessness and dysfunction while the First Amendment rights of citizens to peacefully assemble has been disregarded.' FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced Tuesday he had requested an investigation into allegations of 'targeted violence' against religious groups after the rally, during which eight people were arrested for assault, according to Seattle Police. No injuries were reported. Originally published as Trans rights radicals surround mother holding baby at Christian group rally outside Seattle City Hall
New York Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Woke mob accosts mother holding baby at Christian group rally outside Seattle City Hall
Raving trans rights radicals surrounded a mother with three young children at a rally held by a Christian group outside Seattle City Hall Tuesday, video circulating on social media shows. The 'Rattle in Seattle' protest was organized by MayDay USA, which describes itself as a pro-life grassroots movement that defends traditional family values and units. The demonstrators descended on City Hall on Tuesday to rally against Seattle's woke mayor, Bruce Harrell, who blamed the conservative group for a weekend protest that turned violent. Advertisement MayDay USA had held a demonstration on Saturday at the city's Cal Anderson Park that descended into chaos when left-wing counterdemonstrators stormed the event, resulting in 23 arrests. A mother with three young children was surrounded by trans activists at a Christian group's rally in Seattle Tuesday. Cam Higby / X Harrell blamed the melee in the heart of the city's historically LGBTQ neighborhood on 'far-right' demonstrators and 'anarchists' who he said were 'promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city's values.' Advertisement The weekend event was one leg of MayDay USA's five-city 'Don't Mess With Our Kids' tour, aimed at taking a stand against what the group sees as widespread indoctrination of America's children by the National Education Association 'in the ways of LGBTQ, social justice, and beyond,' the tour's website states. Tuesday's protest then also quickly descended into chaos when dueling demonstrations of trans activists and MayDay USA members faced off on the 4th Avenue steps of City Hall. One frightening video captured a woman carrying a baby, flanked by two young boys, surrounded by counterdemonstrators. Advertisement A man, presumably the children's father, held the hands of boys, one of whom was clearly terrified by the melee and could be seen crying hysterically. Some members of the counterdemonstration urged the woman to get her kids out of harm's way before Seattle cops barged in and started separating the crowd from the family. What exactly happened before filming started and after the clip shared online ended could not be immediately ascertained. The protest, organized by MayDay USA, was held to oppose Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell blaming the group for violence breaking out at a demonstration held over the weekend in the city's Cal Anderson Park. Cam Higby / X Advertisement Meanwhile, MayDay USA blasted Harrell for pointing the finger at them for fomenting the violence at Saturday's rally. 'Following the MayDay USA worship event at Cal Anderson Park on Saturday, Mayor Harrell had the audacity to issue a press release blaming Christians for the premediated violence of Antifa which resulted in the hospitalization of Seattle Police Department personnel and the arrest of 23 Antifa agitators,' the organizers said in a statement. 'Under Mayor Harrell's leadership, the city of Seattle has continued its spiral into lawlessness and dysfunction while the First Amendment rights of citizens to peacefully assemble has been disregarded.' FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced Tuesday he had requested an investigation into allegations of 'targeted violence' against religious groups after the rally, during which eight people were arrested for assault, according to Seattle Police. No injuries were reported.
Los Angeles Times
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
At this year's Cannes, bleak is the new black and miserable endings are très chic
CANNES, France — In Cannes, the weather changes so fast that you can enter a theater in sandals and exit in desperate need of rain boots and a scarf. On Friday, I ran to my room to grab a warmer shirt for an overcast outdoor party. I checked the window and added a jacket, then checked the window again and was stunned to see the sun. By the time I raced back down the Croisette (in something sleeveless), the cocktail hour was over. C'est la vie. The mutability is a lovely parallel for the filmgoing itself. At the end of a great movie, you feel like the world has changed. And when a film is bad, the director suffers the shock of their forecast being dramatically upended. Before the premiere, they were chauffeured around in festival-sponsored BMWs and now their friends are stammering how much they like their shoes. Harris Dickinson, the young British actor who convincingly dominated Nicole Kidman in last year's 'Babygirl,' seemed a tad flustered introducing the premiere of 'Urchin,' his directorial debut. Jacket and tieless with his dress shirt's sleeves rolled up lopsidedly, he hastily joked, 'I'm nervous, but I hope you enjoy it — and if you don't, tell us gently.' That barometric pressure is especially intense in Cannes, but onscreen (so far, at least), the wind is only blowing one way: south. Almost every film so far has been about a character braving a storm — legal, moral, political, psychological — and getting dashed against the rocks. 'Eddington,' Ari Aster's twisty and thistly modern-day western, is set in New Mexico during that first hot and crazy summer of the pandemic. To his credit and the audience's despair, it whacks us right on our bruised memories of that topsy-turvy time when a new alarm sounded every day, from the social-distancing rules of the coronavirus and the murder of George Floyd to the rumors that Antifa was rioting in the streets. With 'Hereditary,' Aster made horror trauma hip; now, he's shifted to satirizing our shared PTSD. Joaquin Phoenix stars as Joe, a sheriff with a soft heart and mushy judgment, who rejects the mask mandate of Eddington's ambitious mayor (Pedro Pascal), arguing that COVID isn't in their tiny rural town. Maybe, maybe not — but it's clear that viral videos have given him and everyone else brain worms. Joe's wife (Emma Stone) and mother-in-law (Deirdre O'Connell) are fixated on conspiracies involving everything from child trafficking to the Titanic. Meanwhile, Eddington's youth activists, mostly white and performative, are doing TikTok dances advertising their passion for James Baldwin while ordering the town's sole Black deputy (Micheal Ward) to take a knee. No one in 'Eddington' speaks the truth. Yet everyone believes what they're saying. Phoenix's Joe watches Henry Fonda movies and wears a symbolic white hat. Yet, he's pathetic at maintaining order, pasting a misspelled sign on his police car that reads: Your being manipulated. Having lived through May 2020 and all that's happened since, we wouldn't trust Aster anyway if he'd pretended a savior could set things right. Still, there's no empathizing with hapless, clueless Joe when he whines, 'Do you really think the power is with the police?' Well, one person in a Cannes film does: the lead of Dominik Moll's 'Dossier 137,' a single mother named Stéphanie (Léa Drucker), who just so happens to be a cop herself. Once, Stéphanie investigated narcotics. Now, she gathers evidence when her fellow officers are accused of misbehavior. An inspired-by-a-true-story detective movie set in the aftermath of the 2018 Paris demonstrations, the film's central case involves a squad of undercover officers who allegedly shoot a 20-year-old protestor in the head with a rubber bullet, shattering the front of the boy's skull. Moll has made the kind of sinewy procedural that makes your palms sweat. 'I have no personal feelings,' Stéphanie insists, even as her ex-husband and his new girlfriend, also police officers, accuse her of being a traitor. More precisely, she allows herself no visible emotions as she questions both the accusers and the accused. It's impressive to watch the meticulous and dogged Stéphanie put together the pieces and make the liars squirm. But she's the last person in the movie to see the big picture: No matter how good she is, she can't be a hero. Sergei Loznitsa's Stalin-era drama 'Two Prosecutors' lugs its own protagonist along that exact same journey; it's affixed to cynicism like a train on a track. Here, the ill-fated idealist is a recent law student (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) who wants to interview a prisoner that the government would rather remain disappeared. The voices that once boldly spoke out against the Soviet regime have long since been silenced. Now, the Great Purge is locking up even the Russians who swear they love their leader. Methodical and dreary, the film's key image is of Kuznetsov (who coincidentally-but-on-purpose has a nose that appears to have been busted around) walking down endless dismal hallways. He's polite and stoic, but we all know he's not getting anywhere. The film plays like a sour joke with an obvious punchline. I respected it fine, but slow and inevitable don't make great bedfellows. The jet-lagged stranger next to me nodded off for a nap. Snores weren't a problem at 'Sirât,' a nail-biter that had its midnight crowd wide awake. The fourth Cannes film by the French-born Spanish director Oliver Laxe, it's about dirtbag ravers who've gathered in a barren stretch of Morocco for a stunning party: orange cliffs, neon lights, thumping EDM beats and dancers thrashing in the dust like the living dead. The only sober attendees are a father (Sergi López) and his young son (Bruno Núñez) who are hoping to find the boy's sister, a bohemian swept up in the relentless rhythm of this road-tripping bacchanalia. But when the party gets busted up by the police, this fractured family joins a caravan headed in the vague direction of another fest. Next stop, disaster. The small ensemble cast looks and feels like they've already lived through an apocalypse. Two of his actors are missing limbs and nearly all are flamboyantly tattooed. As these battered vans hurtle through the desert, it's obvious that 'Sirât' believes the age of 'Mad Max' has already begun. But Laxe's cadence of death is nasty and arbitrary and delightful. He's unconvinced that we can form a community able to survive this harsh world. At best, he'll give us a coin flip chance of success. I've got to watch the film again before I decide whether (a) it's a comedy and (b) it has anything deeper to say. But a second viewing won't be a hardship. Even if 'Sirât' proves half-empty instead of half-full, witnessing another audience gasp at its mean shocks will be sweet schadenfreude. Which finally brings us back to Harris Dickinson. His film 'Urchin' is good. Great, even. The last time he was in Cannes, it was as the lead in Ruben Östlund's 'Triangle of Sadness,' but he's a real-deal director. It's high praise to his acting that I don't want him quitting his day job just yet. 'Urchin' lopes after a drug-addled boy-man named Mike (Frank Dillane, fantastic) who's been sleeping and scavenging on the London streets for five years. Yes, Dickinson has gone 21st-century Dickensian; Mike pesters people for ketamine, vodka and spare change like Oliver Twist begged for porridge. But this isn't a pity piece. 'Urchin' is energetic and filled with life: funny asides, tiny joys, stabs of recognition and flourishes of visual psychedelia. Mike is given multiple chances to change his fortunes. Yet, he's also stubbornly himself and we spend the running time toggling between being scared for him and being scared of him. Dickinson, who also wrote the film, wants us to know not just how easy it is to slide down the social ladder but what a small step forward looks like, even if his tone is ultimately more Sisyphean than self-help. After the movie, I ducked into the drizzle, then into a cafe. A man was monologuing to an acquaintance about his career change from tech to film and this is my favorite place to eavesdrop. 'I was rich and successful but I had to look for something more jazzy,' he explained, stabbing at the other person's plate of charcuterie. He's now broke, he said, and divorced. But somehow, he seemed content. He'd emailed his script to Quentin Tarantino. Maybe next Cannes, he'll be the one getting fêted and chauffeured. Maybe the wind would start blowing his way. A great movie really can change your life.
