A video of a Spokane religious leader encouraging the violent killing of parents who support Transgender children has gone viral after it was posted on April 23.
Jason Graber, one of the pastors of Sure Foundation Baptist Church was filmed passionately telling his congregation that parents of Trans kids "need to be convicted in trial and immediately shot in the back of the head, and then we can string them up above a bridge so the public can see the consequences of that kind of wickedness."
Graber acknowledged in his sermon that his anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs are radical, even for those in Spokane's religious community. "I want you to go ahead and find me another preacher in Spokane to preach the message where they said that these child molesters, that these child butchers, that these f*****s, all these LGBTQ people, people that desire strange flesh, that they should all be put to death in a public execution by the government," he said.
Protected speech
The video was removed from YouTube and Twitter after it gained national attention and sparked safety concerns from several antidiscrimination groups in Spokane. The Spokane Police Department received complaints about Graber's sermon, identifying it as hate speech.
In a statement to the Spokesman-Review, police spokeswoman Julie Humphreys clarified that they are taking no criminal action against Graber. "We had a number of citizens reach out to us and [bring] it to our attention," she said. "At this point, we don't see any evidence of a criminal violation. It appears that speech is protected under the Constitution."
The Spokane Police Department has chosen not to classify the incident as a hate crime because Graber did not name any individuals in his rant.
"If they named somebody, then that crosses over to a true threat to somebody," Humphrey added. "It's shocking to everybody, because the words are so hateful, but it doesn't mean they're necessarily criminal words."
The Southern Poverty Law Center has issued warnings about SFBC and classified all three of its locations as hate groups.
People of faith condemn Graber
The Faith Leaders and Leaders of Conscience of Eastern Washington and North Idaho (FLLC), a pan-religious organization dedicated to fighting racism, condemned Graber's words in a statement. They said, "We denounce those who call for the terrorizing and killing of any human being in the name of faith."
They also called on Graber to repent to God for his words. "Repentance is a Christian practice, and we strongly recommend that Jason Graber, as a Christian, repent for his words of terrorism, hate, and violence and return to a humble walk with his God."
An official "hate group"
While many Christians, both online and in Spokane, have called out Graber's words as hateful and dangerous, they are reflective of the beliefs at the core of Sure Foundation Baptist Church.
Graber is not the first SFBC preacher to condemn the LGBTQ+ community or encourage violence against it. Following the Club Q shooting, a video of Vancouver-based SFBC Pastor Aaron Thompson went viral after he said he "didn't care" about the victims of the shooting and that he believed it was a "good thing," because he hates LGBTQ+ people.
The organization, which affiliates itself with the New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist movement, has made several public statements condemning what it believes to be sodomy. "We believe that sodomy (homosexuality) is a sin and an abomination before God which God punishes with the death penalty," the church said in an official statement. "No sodomite (homosexual) will be allowed to attend or join Sure Foundation Baptist Church."
A quick change
SFBC has not issued any public statements directly addressing Graber or his sermon, but it removed him from his position as pastor of the Spokane chapter following the video's release. Danil Kutsar is replacing him, a decision the church said was already in the works before Graber's threats.
"This was a planned event and only happened during a media frenzy by providence," it said. "Danil stands by the preaching of the church and will continue to be a light unto Spokane."
Many of Graber's past sermons remain on the church's website.
The SGN reached out to the church for comment on the story, to which it responded, "What is SGN? I'm not familiar." After learning that the paper is affiliated with the LGBTQ+ community, another response came: "Yeah, I'm not interested."