UPDATE, AUGUST 20, 1:45 p.m.: The march has been removed from the event’s Facebook page. Yesterday, the Mayor’s office said in a statement that they were aware of the march “and have reached back out to the organizers as that was not what we had discussed with them” Craighead wrote in an email today that “we are not aware of a planned march, nor have the organizers submitted an application to hold a march at Cal Anderson.”
After negotiations with the city, organizers behind an August 30 worship rally hosted by Christian supremacist celebrity Sean Feucht have agreed to relocate “Revive in 25” from Cal Anderson Park to Gas Works Park.
The original site of the rally, Cal Anderson, is smack dab in the middle of the city’s gay neighborhood and where, this May, Christian supremacists held a different, explicitly anti-trans event that ended with Seattle Police officers arresting 23 protesters. Wanting to avoid a repeat and “recognizing that Cal Anderson Park is an important gathering space for our LGBTQ+ residents…we worked with the organizers to suggest alternative park locations,” according to a statement from Mayor Bruce Harrell and City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth.
According to the statement, the city cannot deny or “unilaterally relocate” public permits “based on the content of the speech or the impacts of that speech on the community.”
As first reported by Publicola last week, on the advice of City Attorney Ann Davison, the city was set to issue the group a permit at Cal Anderson before it hit the brakes to hold these last-minute talks. The city met with organizers Monday, sources confirmed with The Stranger, before releasing the permit today. It’s unclear who exactly was in those talks.
“Revive in 25” is a tour of “America’s darkest, most broken cities” and a continuation of the “Let Us Worship” movement Feucht started during the grifter renaissance, the summer of 2020.
Feaucht rose to prominence during the pandemic for holding large, maskless worship concerts across the US and Canada to protest public health measures and bans on mass gathering, which Feucht considered thinly-veiled attempts by bureaucrats and politicians to prevent faithful Christians from praising God. This, of course, made no sense: COVID restrictions applied to all citizens, not just Christians, and unmasked singing indoors is an incredibly efficient way to spread airborne illness. But to evangelicals who built their spiritual lives around all-absorbing group worship, Feucht’s message resonated and he became a star in his world. He came to Cal Anderson shortly after the George Floyd protests. When he tried to play Gas Works Park without a permit a few months later, the city shut the park down to prevent the spread of COVID.
Matthew D. Taylor, a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, Maryland who wrote about Feucht in his book The Violent Take It By Force, says when these COVID restrictions wound down, Feucht found a new far-right cause, setting his sights on the government, generally, the left, the “woke mob,” and an LGBTQ “agenda.” Feucht, who prayed over Trump during impeachment hearings in 2019, has advocated for a country where “Christians are making the laws,” though faith-leaders in Washington, Oregon and Idaho have denounced his beliefs as hateful and anti-LGBTQ. Feucht has called the “transgenderism” movement “demonic.”
To perpetuate this narrative of an unhinged, demonic, spiteful, and anti-Christian left, Feucht has adopted a simple playbook. He shows up in places he isn’t wanted, provokes an angry local reaction, and twists footage of the event into propaganda to serve his narrative, Taylor says.
That strategy should sound familiar. In late May, MayDay USA, a group of far-right Christian supremacists, held an anti-trans #DontMessWithOurKids rally in Cal Anderson.
Tensions were high, but there wasn’t violence until Seattle Police showed up in riot gear and arrested protesters. MayDayers were asked to leave early, and police protected their exit.
MayDay USA exploited video of the arrests, editing video to look like protesters were violent and aggressive in the face of the faithful. And when Mayor Harrell issued a statement referring to the event as an “extreme right-wing rally,” they used it to paint a picture of religious discrimination, where a state-endorsed, anti-Christian mob seized an innocent Christian worship service. To capitalize on the attention, organizers planned a swift action on the steps of city hall, a “Rattle in Seattle” to assert rights that the city hadn’t violated. It was quite the about face: Days before, the group posted on social media that the MayDay rally was a battle in a spiritual war against child “butchers” and demonic forces.
“The big blow up that happened in Seattle got these guys so much attention, so much power, because they mean they have direct channels from the White House,” including Paula White-Cain, who heads President Donald Trump’s White House Faith Office. This Sunday and Monday, White-Cain preached in Seattle and Kirkland alongside Russell Johnson of Pursuit Church, who told crowds at the MayDay USA event that our society suffered from a “sexual sickness.” Callie Craighead, the Mayor’s press secretary, confirmed that White-Cain “was not a part of conversations around this permit.”
Local governments in Canada have begun to catch on to his divisive strategy: Eight Canadian cities have revoked Feucht’s permits, citing safety concerns and code of conduct violations.
But today, he seems pleased. And since “Revive in 25” thrives on controversy, it’s already set up another fight. First reported by Publicola, according to the event’s Facebook page, organizers are still holding a unpermitted “Jesus March” at 3:30, starting at the south end of the park and crossing Capitol Hill.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect new details from Revive in 25, after they announced on Facebook that they would still hold a march on Capitol Hill before their rally at Gas Works.
Y’all should thank the residents of Wallingford for taking one for the team.
Wow! Way for The Stranger to lose the lead and portray Harrell as clever when he just got supremely clowned. Sean Feucht posted this to his Facebook page way earlier today: https://www.facebook.com/events/740075338826222.
Feucht WILL be at Cal Anderson Park regardless of permits or agreements with Harrell.
Here is Feucht’s current schedule for Saturday August 30th:
Join us in Seattle for LET US WORSHIP, Revive in 2025
1:00 PM | Outreach
– Everyone will meet at south side of Cal Anderson Park (Water works – 1635 11th Ave
– We will disperse people into different teams
3:30 PM | Jesus March
– All participants reconvene at Cal Anderson Park (at the corner of E Denny Way & Nagle PL
– Corner of E Denny Way & Nagle PL is the starting point, March to Broadway then traverse
down to E Pike St and take a right. Follow E Pike St to 11th Ave. Take a left on 11th Ave and
march back to Water Works (1635 11th Ave) to end the march.
5:00 PM | Let Us Worship Event
– Location: Gas Works Park (2101 N Northlake Way Seattle, WA 98103)
Harrell negotiated permitting a horrifying SINGLE event on Capitol Hill — limited in time and space and possible to contain — into THREE separate horrifying and mostly uncontainable events that will happen over the whole day in Wallingford and Capitol Hill. The kicker? These right-wing provocateurs still get to show up at Cal Anderson Park, but now without a permit! Harrell clearly took the Donald Trump course on negotiations!
If we want to effectively fight these fucknuts we need to take advantage of existing Seattle law (SMC 18.12.280, see https://library.municode.com/wa/seattle/codes/municipal_code?nodeId=TIT18PARE_CH18.12PACO_SUBCHAPTER_VIIUSRE_18.12.280DIPR) which legally requires that any Seattle Parks permitted public event (Aug 30 is a public event) not prevent admission based on “race, creed, color, sex, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity, political ideology, age, religion, ancestry, caste, national origin, citizenship or immigration status.” Unlike the events of last spring we must ensure that neither the SPD nor Aug 30 event organizers screen or prohibit folks from entering the event. Once Feucht tries to restrict admission — which he will — Seattle will have a legal basis for terminating the permit and denying future permits.
This seems worse.
3 Yes, waaay worse. What else would we expect from a performative, sexist, bully for a mayor?
August 30th will see 1st day of Bumbershoot along with Seattle Storm, Sounders, & Husky football home games. There will also be concerts at Benaroya Hall, the Paramount, and the Neptune. Matisyahu will be performing and likely draw some protests.
SPD will torque things up & loose control, then tell us they were vastly understaffed.
@2 you’re right Harrell absolutely botched this, like he’s botched most everything since he was elected. Yet another reason to vote Katie Wilson!
@2 Speaking of getting supremely clowned, Apple Maps says the walking route from Cal Anderson to Gas Works Park via the UW Bridge would take 1 hour 43 minutes on a quiet weeknight. The route through SLU via Denny would take 1 hour 42 minutes. Feucht’s current schedule says a crowd at Cal Anderson Park will walk the former route in far less than 1 hour 30 minutes, in full Summer afternoon daylight, on a very busy weekend. Good luck with that, everyone. While you’re busy not getting there, try not to overload EMS with all of your 911 calls.
(Bonus points if the UW bridge somehow got raised, and just left standing up there, just as the crowd approacheth…)
@1 Totoman, @2 &@4 HJGale, and @3 DOUG: OMG what a RWNJ nightmare! Bruce Harrell has only helped fan the flames of illogical batshit craziness, making everything worse.
These rallies are NOT about Jesus. Instead, they are public threats of terrorism through willful misinformation, propaganda, spreading irrational fear, violence, hatred, misogyny, racism, and chaos like cancer following Donald Trump’s criminally insane playbook.
@5 thirteen12: I’m no longer a Seattle resident but for the sake of Seattleites citywide, I hope Katie Wilson wins the mayoral election. Bruce Harrell has been nothing but an embarrassing corporate billionaire caving screwup from the start.
Hopefully they’l keep things clean and family friendly.
You know, like that guy in the Pride Parade a year or so ago that was wearing chaps with someone pretending to whip him.
Why a bunch of Christians praising the Lord should get all your panties in a twist is beyond me. Get over it. They won’t bite.
Some march. It’s basically a walk around the block.
Those directions make no sense. I think they meant take a left on Broadway. It would be pretty hilarious if they started marching downtown searching for 11th Ave….
Speaking of Katie Wilson, it would be interesting to hear how she would handle this situation. What departments would she work with? What legislation would she cite to back up her decision? What are the budgetary implications? Are there labor considerations? What if there was opposition from the council? How would she handle the balance between freedom of speech/assembly and the provocative nature of the Christian Nationalists?
I believe you may’ve spelled
Christofascists wrong,
Catalina
but
those’re
all great questions.
perhaps
Katie herself
Reads tS? and just
might deign to Respond?
just think of it: Our
Next Mayor, wal-
lowing with the
riff-raff!
(WWJ*D?)
[*speaking
of Christ]
Before anyone gets worked up and accuses me of being a Republican, I’ll say that Wilson likely has my vote, if for no other reason than she is less likely to require city employees to go back to the office five days a week than Harrell is.
And if she is Mayor, I of course want her to succeed, not just have a bunch of “activists” and the The Stranger making excuses for her. It will be a steep learning curve, as being Mayor is not just about housing. That’s actually a small part of the whole equation. Maybe she’ll rise to the occasion. But will it be in time for the ridiculously fickle Seattle voters?
“during the grifter renaissance, the summer of 2020.”
I wonder what else happened during the summer of 2020?
Oh yeah, now I remember, some white Antifa / John Brown Gun Club idiots murdered a black teenager at CHAZ/CHOP (for bLaCk LiVeS!!!) , and literally got away with murder.
“MayDayers were asked to leave early, and police protected their exit.”
It sure sounds like you don’t like the fact that police protected their exit. It seems like you are implying that you would have preferred that they had been left vulnerable to attacks as they left.
I’m not even a Christian. I’m just “snorting between the lines” haha
“It was quite the about face” [sic]
The correct way to write that term is “about-face”, with a dash in between “about” and “face”.
You’re welcome.
Valvolini,
desperate
Wow, kristofartian actually wrote a readable post!
@7: Is Harrell really a billionaire?
“Tensions were high, but there wasn’t violence until Seattle Police showed up in riot gear and arrested protesters….MayDay USA exploited video of the arrests, editing video to look like protesters were violent and aggressive in the face of the faithful.”
This is a truly astonishing way of saying “The only people who were arrested were counterprotesters who committed violent crime, which is the only thing any video or evidence shows”. Someone who believed the colossally dishonest phrasing by Vivian would be left with the impression the police simply decided to arrest people from one side for no reason.
It’s sort of funny imagining a different mayor could have handled this different. Both sides have a right to free speech in a public place–there’s absolutely nothing that can legally be done to stop them.
13: So you’re going to vote against ever having homeless encampments cleared out, essentially.
13: “Before anyone gets worked up and accuses me of being a Republican…”
So you determine your vote by how other people feel about you instead of deciding on the actual issues? Your angst about a five day work week is an eye roll, considering how you have articulated in-depth opinions about city government.
I thought you had more chutzpah.
if by ‘homeless encampments cleaned out’
you mean their belongings destroyed
perpetually moved to be moved
yet again and again and again
the game of whack-a-peep
played out to Infinity and
Beyond, whilst NEVER
ADDRESSING the
Root fucking
CAUSES
then yes
I Suppose so
8 sorry but it’s been a year or more and you’re still thinking about a man in chaps getting whipped?
Leave it to the Christians to be the bigger man and move their rally to accommodate the rabidly intolerant left.
We now understand it was perfectly fine for Feucht to hold “large mask less worship concerts” as social distancing and masking were political decisions that did not reduce the transmission of Covid in the slightest.
The bans on mass gatherings were a violation on these Christians constitutional rights to freely associate and worship with other Christians.
Police protected the Mayday USA protestors because they were non-violent and had done nothing wrong. Protestors were arrested because they were in fact violent.
Our society absolutely does suffer from a sexual sickness. On the most basic level, STD infections are an indicator of this. As is the promotion of PReP drugs, polyamory, abortion pills by mail, etc.
March on Christians, March On.
23: At least whack-a-peep finds dead bodies, allows vegetation to recover, and dangerous weapons and materials to be confiscated. All root cause remedies a good leftie like you should applaud.
It sounds like you’re mad that Mayor Harrell for… knowing what’s in the Bill of Rights and understanding how it applies to the City government’s legal obligations?
One shudders to imagine the Seattle police arriving again, standing there and possibly even wearing some sort of gear, giving people no choice but to attack the police and be unjustly arrested…
@21 but that’s been happening during the entirety of Harrell’s single term and they’re still there…curious. Almost as if chasing them in circles doesn’t solve the issue of them not having a place to live. The pro sweep people approach “just one more lane” levels of sunk cost status quo delusion.
29: Removing encampments is not meant to be a solution to homelessness. Not having a place to live does not mean people can live wherever they want, particularly in dangerous locations and conditions for them, others, and the environment.
Coolidge dollar dear, I have worked under five mayors (seven if you count the temps). It really doesn’t matter who the mayor is. I’d prefer one with some administrative and political experience, but I know how flaky Seattle is. We haven’t had a two term mayor since Greg Nickels (who arguably lost his third election over some dumb story about a snowplow). If Wilson doesn’t pan out, or the purity voters find a new standard bearer, there’ll be another mayor. It’s entirely likely I’ll be retired and not living in Seattle by that time.
In the meantime, I like my hybrid schedule.
I agree with @30 Dale Horseman. The homeless need to be arrested, and put in work camps. That way we won’t need to hire cheap illegal alien labor. Instead we can pay prisoners just pennies on the dollar to do the work. Dale for Governor!
Sorry. I meant @29 Dale Horseman
“Unmasked singing indoors is an incredibly efficient way to spread airborne illness.”
The Stranger: forever submissive and obedient
Christianity is declining in the US. The decline might pause, but it starts again. Events like this are a desperate gasp from a flailing, dying body. Don’t offer attention; look away. Doing anything else encourages them and gives them hope for more life.
“Tensions were high, but there wasn’t violence until Seattle Police showed up”. I’m sorry, but I just can’t get over this phrasing. Wouldn’t it be plainly more honest to phrase along the lines of “Tensions were high, but there wasn’t violence until Seattle Police showed up and were attacked”?
“Tensions were high, but there wasn’t violence until Dr. King showed up on the balcony…”
Now that we know the bigots have assigned themselves the task of crossing the Ship Canal on foot, we know what to do, right? All we need are several LGBTQIA+ (or just friendly) folks with tall-masted sailboats, to motor them from Portage Bay to Salmon Bay and back, hour after hour, all of that afternoon. By the time all the bigots still south of the Canal have ascended Queen Anne to take Aurora, daylight will be fading — and their energy as well. Meanwhile, we’ll be laughing at how Seattle’s awesome geography supremely clowned a bunch of clueless out-of-towners.
tensorna dear, unless the directions are terribly wrong (a possibility that I raised earlier), or I am missing something (a distinct possibility), there’s no march going from Capitol Hill to Gasworks Park. It sounds like there’s a walk around the block for Jesus on Capitol Hill, and then everyone is on their own to get over to Gasworks Park.
I love how these moronic bigots are planning a long march into a venue with limited exit routes. The good people* of Seattle should let them do what they want at Cal Anderson Park. In fact, they should completely ignore that part. Instead, people should harass everyone on the march down to Gas Works. They should also especially identify any vehicle that moves from Cal Anderson to Gas Works. Once the bigots start their event at Gas Works, we need to make it as hard as possible for them to leave. Identifying and sabotaging their vehicles is the first goal.
@9 I’m fine with Christians praising their God. My problem is when they mix harassing people the look down on as part of their worship. The New Testament is very clear that the original Christ broke bread with the oppressed of his day.
@39
It’s not at all difficult to find you
“Greenwood Bob”
“Once the bigots start their event at Gas Works, we need to make it as hard as possible for them to leave. Identifying and sabotaging their vehicles is the first goal.”
The Stranger allows this blatant advocacy of terrorist violence on their website, and deletes comments that are much more innocuous. Soooooo pRoGrEs$iVe
“Once the bigots start their event at Gas Works, we need to make it as hard as possible for them to leave. Identifying and sabotaging their vehicles is the first goal.”
Bring it, “Greenwood Bob”. We know who you are. Give it a try. Fuck around and find out. In other words, if you fuck with out vehicles or anything else, prepare yourself to get shot.
Christians have enough problems without sabotaging their cars, Greenwood Bob, dear. They believe that a God impregnated a white virgin who gave birth to a boy who grew up, never married, and hung out with twelve other guys, but NO HOMO! Then he was put to death by a bunch of Republicans, but then woke up, and finally ascended into heaven with his mom.
They’re desperate and angry (just look at Our Dear Vawoli) but they’re dying off. Just bide your time.
So they ditched the Jesus walk? Darn. I just love a religious procession. But the Catholics do it much better. They bring a statue along, and sometimes there’s incense and holy water.
@32 I’ll play along with that absurd false dichotomy long enough to get your vote, pro slave labor constitient. That’s definitely what I’m suggesting.
@42 it’s spelled “Progressive”, idiot.
@43 Bring it on, bitch. You won’t do anything and you know it. Just another keyboard warrior pretending to be tough. LMAO.
@39 You should definitely commit lots and lots of crimes to protest their event. That’s a really good idea and you should do it
@38: So, the bigots will drive to Capitol Hill, try to find parking there at noon on a Saturday (good luck with that), then drive to Gas Works Park, try to find parking near there, spend hours rallying in the Summer afternoon sunlight reflecting off Lake Union, then trudge back to wherever they had to leave their cars, and drive home. Sounds like a perfectly awful day to me.
As their Capitol Hill March has no permit, no one need get out of their way. By the time they arrive, Cal Anderson should look like an old-time, in-your-face Pride event. Leather daddys French-kissing leather boys, large women astride motorcycles, symbols mocking religion — the whole bit. If they go to Cal Fucking Anderson Park on a Summer holiday weekend, they should expect no less.
Now, as for boats, a half-dozen anchored near Gas Works Park, bedecked in rainbows, and blasting loud music continuously across a very short stretch of water, should do nicely.
Now THAT sounds like a great day in Seattle!
@41 I’m not a coward. I’m fine with being on record for using violence against Fascists. My father, uncles, and their friends were all WWII vets who received medals for killing Fascists.