A Christian worship service was violently attacked by antifa and other pro-“transgender” individuals in Seattle on Saturday. Police had to intervene, leading to several arrests as black-clad and masked “counter-protesters” tried to tear down fencing and rush the event. Others exposed themselves publicly, you know, as completely normal, totally adjusted people do.
Here’s a bit of the chaos that ensued, including scenes of police pinning antifa members to the ground to stop their advance.
SEATTLE: Attendees of the praise and worship gathering hosted by MayDay USA tell @choeshow it’s time for church-goers to share the love of Jesus Christ in the darkest places of the world.
Their message comes amid Antifa, transgender activists, and other far-left militants’… pic.twitter.com/NKJbnZSKWH
— FRONTLINES (@FrontlinesTPUSA) May 25, 2025
One of the pastors behind the event gave some commentary on their motives, though I’ll note that’s irrelevant when talking about the free exercise of religion and speech. Christians have just as much of a right to exist in public as anyone waving a “transgender” flag while shouting obscenities at people they disagree with.
REPORTER: What do you want to say to the rest of the country watching this nationally? A lot of people don’t believe this kind of far-left violence and militant behavior is happening in a place like Seattle.
PASTOR: I think it’s because of the silence of the church. So my message to the rest of the country is, we’ve got to stop being silent. Stop being inside the four walls of church. Step outside the four walls of the church, and bring the love of Jesus Christ to the most dark places we see.
Are you ready for the story to get worse? Because it’s about to get much worse. Not only did the Christians involved have to deal with hateful, violent attacks from masked lunatics, but the Mayor of Seattle promptly came out and condemned…the Christians.
Mayor Bruce Harrell released the following statement, labeling the worship concert as an “extreme right-wing rally” and threw his support behind the “counter-protesters” who fought with and allegedly injured police officers.
HOLY CRAP: Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office(@MayorofSeattle) just released a statement saying today’s Christian concert at Cal Anderson Park was an “extreme right-wing rally.”His chief comms person Jamie Housen wrote this and failed to address the Antifa violence that led… https://t.co/R7e0bREqUD pic.twitter.com/0olnTx8ocY
— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) May 25, 2025
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. 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.
When the humanity of trans people and those who have been historically marginalized is questioned, we triumph by demonstrating our values through our words and peaceful protest – we lose our voice when this is disrupted by violence, chaos, and confusion.
Let me help Harrell out here. A city does not have “values.” A city in America is a conglomeration of people who are all free to express their beliefs, including religious beliefs, in whatever legal way they see fit. If someone is “provoked” to violence and hatred by the singing of worship songs, then that’s a symptom of their own depravity.
But the “trans community” is nothing if it isn’t a deranged cult, dead-set on bending everyone to its will by any means necessary. Pay attention to the words Harrell uses. He’s essentially saying that being “LGBTQ+” in Seattle gives one veto power over the rights of others.
Harrell went on to blame “anarchists” who “infiltrated” the counter-protest for the violence instead of just admitting that the counter-protesters were the anarchists. He then directed the city’s parks department to investigate the application submitted by the Christians for their worship service, suggesting they should not have been allowed to be there.
While there are broad First Amendment requirements around permitting events under free speech protections, I am directing the Parks Department to review all of the circumstances of this application to understand whether there were legal location alternatives or other adjustments that could have been pursued. The Police Department will complete an after-action report of this event, including understanding preparation, crowd management tactics, and review of arrests and citations.
