A conservative Christian pastor in Seattle has had enough with his city’s mayor and is calling for an apology after a Christian rally turned violent when a group of pro-LGBT counterprotestors attacked a group of worshipers, leading to a reported 23 arrests.
For context, Pastor Russell Johnson of Pursuit NW Church called out Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, a Democrat, after he allegedly supported a group of LGBT protestors who disrupted a Christian “Don’tMessWithOurKids” rally in Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park on May 24, 2025. Pastor Johnson argued that Mayor Harrell owed his city an apology after the mayor called the event a “far-right rally.”
In addition, the rally was organized by the pro-life organization Mayday USA, which described the event as focusing on “declaring the sanctity of human life, the sacrality of biological gender, the importance of the nuclear family, and the right to freedom of religion.” In response, Mayor Harrell, in a statement issued on May 24, 2025, decried the event, saying, “Today’s far-right rally was held here…to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values.”
Furthermore, Mayor Harrell said that the pro-LGBT counterprotesters who disrupted the event were “infiltrated by anarchists,” who he said “inspired violence” against Christians. Moreover, Mayor Harrell broadly defended “those who make their voices heard,” saying that the counterprotestors were responding to “an extreme right-wing national effort to attack our trans and LGBTQ+ communities.”
Along with Mayor Harrell’s statement, the Seattle Police Department issued a press release that confirmed that “officers arrested 23 people” at the protest, adding that the police “witnessed multiple people inside one group throw items at the opposing group,” referring to the woke counterprotesters who disrupted the event. In addition, the press release clarified that an officer was injured during the protests, adding that he was “treated and released from the hospital.”
Following the protest, Pastor Russell Johnson took to X to fiercely criticize Mayor Harrell’s leadership and offer his firsthand perspective on the event, saying, “Folks who were holding a peaceful worship event at Cal Anderson Park were violently assaulted for the high crime of expressing their deeply held religious beliefs in the form of a permitted worship event on city property.”
Continuing, Pastor Johnson called out Mayor Harrell for blaming Christians “for the violence” and pointed to Harrell’s 1996 arrest after he “pulled a gun on a woman who was 8 months pregnant because he was upset she took his parking spot.” Moreover, Pastor Johnson noted, “The Mayor is on his third police chief since taking office. No one wants to work for him.”
Furthermore, Pastor Johnson said that the mayor “owes Christians in WA state an apology,” adding, “I guess pulling guns on pregnant women isn’t enough for Mayor Harrell. He’s now got to blame Christians for a city that he has let go to hell.” In addition, Johnson announced on X on May 26 that his church was hosting a “worship protest rally” at the office of the mayor to prompt him to “either apologize or resign.”
Watch a clip from the rally:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video