Fallout continues over the way the city handled a Christian pro-life group's rally over the weekend.
Seattle police arrested 23 at a Mayday USA "Don't Mess With Our Kids" rally that, at the request of police, was ended early because of violence from Antifa and pro-transgender counter-protesters.
Mayor Bruce Harrell, a Democrat, blames the Christian group for "infiltrating" the counter-protesters, but Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced on Tuesday that the FBI is opening an investigation into allegations of targeted violence against religious groups in Seattle.
"Freedom of religion isn't a suggestion," Bongino wrote on X.
"It should be a sigh of relief among believers across this country that justice is returning to the United States," Representative Mark Harris (R-North Carolina) said on "Washington Watch" Wednesday.
For many Christians, breathing was not as easy under Joe Biden's administration.
They endured much from the former president and his staff:
- Christian universities were fined for their views and policies, according to Dr. Scott Hicks of Liberty University.
- The IRS charged Cornerstone Church, led by Pastor Gary Hamrick, for alleged violations of the Johnson Amendment, which prevents a church from endorsing a political candidate.
- Christian military personnel were denied religious exemption requests when COVID-19 vaccines were mandated.
- The FBI raided pro-life advocate Mark Houck outside of Philadelphia.
- Roughly 60 pro-life advocates faced FACE Act charges in 25 cases.
Mayor's position is clear
The "Rattle in Seattle," a Christian demonstration that took place Tuesday in response to the Mayday USA events, resulted in at least eight more arrests, Fox News reports.
Mayor Harrell (pictured above) has made City Hall's anti-Christian position very clear.
"The mayor is telling the truth: Seattle is anti-Christian. He's making truthful statements. The entire structure of Seattle government is anti-Christian – it's racist and probably passively satanic, since they consider themselves an atheist city. "That city gave Black Lives Matter incorporated groups and Antifa groups $1 billion. They gave them an un-commissioned firehouse as property. [Anarchists] haven't 'infiltrated' anything. If speaking truth biblically is inciting violence, then I guess this really gets down to the bottom line of who these people in Seattle are: They are people who respond violently to the Word of God." Todd Herman |
"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," he said in a statement as events were unfolding. "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."
"Anarchists infiltrated the counter-protestors group and inspired violence, prompting SPD to make arrests and ask organizers to shut down the event early, which they did," the mayor continued.
But Harrell was not entirely clear about the Mayday USA rally; someone in his administration had encouraged the group to move away from its first choice location and consider others, according to Post Millenial.
They landed on Cal Anderson Park, the same location that left-wing protesters occupied and renamed CHAZ – Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone – for more than three weeks in the summer of 2020.
"This is a mess," Rep. Harris told show host Tony Perkins.
He commends the parents' willingness to stand up for their kids.
Shedding light on Biden administration
"People have had enough," Harris said, adding, "I'm so grateful that you've got a Justice Department and an FBI deputy director, Dan Bongino, who … are going to investigate this activity that is really targeting and becoming an anti-Christian movement."
While it steps up its efforts to protect the freedom of Christians, the FBI is also revisiting some cases that might not have gotten the Biden administration's full attention – such as the Supreme Court leak of information on a pending ruling, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade and ultimately returned control of abortion to the states.
In July of 2023, the Secret Service announced the discovery of a plastic bag containing less than a gram of cocaine inside the White House. The incident prompted an evacuation, though Biden and his family were at Camp David at the time of the discovery.
Harris said the new FBI, under Director Kash Patel and Bongino, will be more willing to let the facts guide their investigations without "targeting" one side or the other.
"All too often, it seemed like our Justice Department had become nothing more than just an institution involved in lawfare," he said about the Biden era.
Harris reiterated the importance of reopening these investigations, telling Perkins, "These are things that Americans would like to get to the bottom of and get some answers."
As Congress likewise awaits the findings with great interest, Harris said he expects hearings on Capitol Hill to come about as a result.
"One of the things that we said early on that we wanted to do with the new administration was allow some of these new cabinet members … to be able to come and let us know what they have found," Harris noted. "I think that that's going to be important as these days go on for us to just uncover what had been going on in that previous administration."
