JASON RANTZ: Seattle says praying in public is 'provocative' and the Trump administration is taking notice
Seattle is actively waging a war against Christian worshipers and the First Amendment. This isn’t hyperbole. It’s a city-sanctioned, Left-wing media-backed, far-Left crusade to stomp out any faith that dares exist outside their secular, progressive orthodoxy.
And the Trump administration is taking notice, potentially stepping in where city leadership has refused to protect basic rights.
Over the last two weeks, Seattle’s animosity toward Christians has been on full display. Two weeks ago, Cal Anderson Park (made notorious as the main staging area for Seattle’s deadly autonomous zone in 2020) became ground zero for Seattle’s unhinged war on faith. MayDay USA, a Christian group, gathered for a worship rally under the banner #dontmesswithourkids. They oppose gender transition on minors, a mainstream position that Seattle treats as fringe. But the majority of the event was singing worship songs, dancing, and offering kids free haircuts.
Far-left agitators — the Antifa cosplay crowd, masked as always — swarmed the park, launching urine-filled balloons at worshipers, hurling water bottles at police, and physically assaulting both officers and civilians.
Twenty-three arrests. A police officer was hospitalized. And all because a group of Christians had the audacity to pray in public in the "tolerant" city of Seattle.
How did Democratic Mayor Bruce Harrell respond? He ran interference for the attackers and then had the gall to blame the worshipers.
"On Saturday, our city saw an extreme right-wing group rally at Cal Anderson Park, attracting both supporters and counterprotesters. While we respect the right to free speech and peaceful assembly, it is clear that intentionally provocative rallies designed to attract confrontation place a burden on our communities and law enforcement resources," the Mayor’s Office said in a statement.
Translation: If Christians get attacked in Seattle, it’s probably their fault for being so provocative with all that worshiping. Maybe if they’d just stayed home and streamed a Drag Queen Story Hour instead, things would have been quieter.
Meanwhile, Councilmember Bob Kettle, elected under the claim that he’d focus on law and order, blamed the city for giving a permit to the worshipers to visit Cal Anderson Park, which is in Seattle’s most gay-friendly neighborhood. At the City Hall rally, Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck and State Representative Shaun Scott showed up to support the radicals targeting the worshipers.
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Harrell went so far as to claim that worshipers who were upset with him for labeling them extremists were trying to "intimidate" him because he’s "Seattle's second Black and first biracial mayor."
But the far-left wasn’t finished. Later in the week, worshipers and their supporters showed the kind of courage this city’s politicians can only pretend to possess. They rallied at City Hall, demanding the city finally do its job and protect the right to worship. And, again, it was a positive event filled with public displays of faith, singing, and dancing.
They were met by a mob that harassed, insulted, and, at times, assaulted them.
Leftist agitators swarmed Christian moms and their kids as they left the rally, screaming obscenities not just at the supporters, but at the cops there to keep the peace. Eight more arrests. This is "tolerance" in Seattle — just so long as you’re on the right team.
But don’t hold your breath waiting for city leaders to condemn the violence. That’s exactly why it keeps happening.
As I detail in my book, "What’s Killing America: Inside the Radical Left’s Tragic Destruction of Our Cities," I infiltrated Antifa thugs and their activist pals as they wreaked havoc in Seattle. They only get bolder when their violence is excused. I was at the City Hall rally this week. Let’s not pretend there’s a Venn diagram separating the radicals who seized six city blocks in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) from the ones who showed up to harass and assault Christian worshipers. They’re basically the same crowd.
Now, the official line is that the worshipers themselves are the "extremists." This narrative is parroted endlessly by local media bolstering the political position from the mayor’s office, which insists these events were "designed to attract confrontation" — as if public prayer is some kind of riot bait.
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The Seattle Times described the worshipers as "far right" protesters. But the description of the thugs who committed the violence and harassed children? Merely "pro-LGBTQ+ protesters" — no ideological identifier. KOMO-TV labeled one side "right-wing," but didn’t identify the radical protesters. Instead, the outlet laughably concluded it was "unclear" what "sparked confrontations."
Let’s be honest: If any other minority group was targeted in this way, the outrage would be deafening. But for Christians? Silence — or worse, blame.
But there’s a glimmer of hope, though it’s predictably not coming from Seattle City Hall. The Trump administration is now watching closely. Both FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and White House Faith Officer advisor Paula White say they’re reviewing the events.
The message is clear: If Seattle won’t protect basic rights, the Trump administration just might. But it shouldn’t come to this. The Trump administration shouldn’t have to remind Seattle what the First Amendment actually means and that political violence, in all forms, is wrong.