Tag Archives: Violence

Pastor Shot Outside Connecticut Church

A Connecticut Pastor, outside his church on Sunday morning placing American flags in honor of Memorial Day, was shot by an unknown assailant.

Rev. Augustus Sealy, 54, is pastor of First Church of the Nazarene in Hartford, Connecticut.  He was planting small American flags in the church yard when someone drove past in a black car and opened fire.

Police say that they received multiple 911 calls and found Rev. Sealy shot in the leg and shoulder.  The pastor’s femur was shattered and a metal rod was placed in the leg to stabilize it.

His wife Sharon told the Hartford Courant that while her husband was in a lot of pain he should make a full recovery from his wounds.

“He hasn’t lost any hope,” Sealy’s wife told NBC Connecticut. “You know, this is something that was really terrible and shouldn’t have happened and we’ve already prayed for that person who actually committed the crime.”

Rev. Eustance McDonald of Brooklyn, New York came to the church to preach at the 11 a.m. service and spoke from the book of Samuel where King David and his men had their town burned down by an enemy but did not lose heart.

“Misfortune in life comes to us all,” he said, telling the congregation that what matters most is their response. “You have to go to a place of hope.”

Rev. Henry Brown, who has been working to end gun violence in Hartford, came to the church after the incident to comfort and counsel church members.

“I am tired of people being shot,” he said. “The devil is not going to win here.”

Jewish Mother, Teen Attacked Near Paris

A Jewish mother was one of two victims of anti-Semitic attacks in the Paris area.

The woman was injured by three African women who attacked because the Jewish woman complained about their children throwing a soccer ball at her daughter.

As the trio of women were attacking the Jewish woman, witnesses say they were shouting anti-Semitic slogans and comments.  One witness said the assailants yelled “Hitler didn’t finish the job” and “that Jews were a filthy race.”

One of the women said the victim needed more beatings.

The woman was treated in a hospital for her injuries and required several days of recovery.

“Increasingly, banal conflicts involving Jews degenerate into anti-Semitic incidents and assaults,”  the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism wrote in a statement, which urged police to “get to the bottom of what happened.”

The BNVCA also reported that a 16-year-old Jewish boy was attacked by four men of Middle Eastern descent.  He was struck in the face and had his phone stolen from him while a fifth man told the gang of four to “break” the victim of the assault.

The boy required emergency eye surgery at Rothschild Hospital.

Alabama Megachurch Evacuated After Threats of Violence

An Alabama megachurch that holds “Secret Church” events involving extended prayer, worship and hard-core Christian teaching had to be evacuated Friday after receiving threats of violent acts against the gathering.

The service, which was to be lead by International Mission Board president and pastor David Platt, was held in the night at an undisclosed location as police investigated.

“Due to security concerns, the elders and leadership at the church have decided to close the church for the simulcast. The simulcast will take place, but not at Brook Hills. If you are a ticket holder, information has been sent to you via email,” said the website of the Radical ministry, which is headed by former Brook Hills pastor Platt.

The staff of the church along with the pre-school’s teachers and students were evacuated from the building.

“We want to ensure the safety of our staff and members, and all those who are going to participate,” Chris Kinsley, the Church’s communications director, told Yellowhammer. “We live in a world where our fellow Christians around the world face threats on a daily basis. We’re lucky enough to live in a country where that is unusual, but when it does happen we want to take it seriously but also not allow it to cause us to shrink back from the message we have to share.”

The Secret Church events can last upwards of six hours or more and focus on Jesus Christ.  The teachings for this session sent via simulcast around the world focused on slavery and sexuality based on Leviticus 25:35-43 and 1 Corinthians 6:18-20.

“Secret Church is a time where we join together to study God’s Word and to identify with our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted in countless places around the world,” according to the ministry’s website.

“When we think of ‘church’ in America, we think of going to meet at a building, singing, praying and hearing a message from a Pastor or teacher. But in many places around the world, ‘church’ meets in a home, an apartment, even in secret. These small groups of Christ-followers often meet for many hours in study, prayer and fellowship, as it is dangerous to travel to ‘church’ and they want to make the most of their time together.”

Christian Boy Burned By Muslims In Pakistan

Two Muslim youths on their way to Friday prayers stopped a Christian boy, beat him and then set him on fire.

The victim, identified as “Nuaman” by the local Christian group The Voice Society, is hospitalized in Lahore in Punjab province with burns on 55 percent of his body.

The two Muslim attackers have not been identified.

“I told them that I am Christian. They started beating me, when I tried running, both boys started following me through the street and then they threw Kerosene on me and burnt me,” Nuaman was quoted as saying in the Christian Post. “I kept on running when a heap of sand came my way, I lied down on the sand … [A] few people from the community … [extinguished] fire by putting sand on me. I became unconscious, and they called 1122 Emergency medical helpline and called [for] an ambulance.”

The attack is being considered a revenge attack for the lynching of two Muslim terrorists following an attack on a Christian church March 15th that left 17 people dead and 80 injured.  A Taliban splinter group claimed responsibility for the attack.

UK Group Helping Christian Rape Victims

A British group is trying to raise world awareness of the rape of two Pakistiani Christian girls by a gang of Muslims.

The teen girls, Sherish and Farzana, live in Pakistan’s Punjab province.  The Muslim men attacked them only because they were Christian and the men wanted to punish them for their faith.

The British Pakistani Christian Association says the teens have been intimidated by the group of men after the attacks in an attempt to keep them quiet.  One of the men on a motorcycle fired guns into the family home of the girls.  They were told they shouldn’t be in an Islamic country and they should leave immediately.

The BPCA says that the local officials arrested three men in connection with the attack but two of them have been released on “bail” with no date to return to face charges.  The local police reportedly have misplaced evidence and made other mistakes that the BPCA says it related to corruption rather than incompetence.

U.S. Ambassador To South Korea Attacked

The U.S. ambassador to South Korea is recovering today from an attack by a knife-wielding assailant.

Ambassador Mark Kippert had started delivering a speech when 55-year-old Kim Ki-jong jumped at him and slashed with the knife.  Lippert underwent surgery for a cut on his face that required 80 stitches to close.

Doctors told the media that damage to the Ambassador’s left hand could be severe enough to permanently hamper use.

The assailant shouted “no to war training” and later that the two Koreas need to be reunited.

North Korea hailed the attack saying that it was a “righteous punishment” against the United States and showed the residents of South Korea want to be ruled by the North.  They blamed the U.S. keeping 28,500 troops in South Korea as a reason for the problems in the region.

President Obama condemned the attack and sent his best wishes to the ambassador.

Student Assaults Woman; Claims He Was Acting Out Fifty Shades of Grey

The criticism of the soft-core pornographic film Fifty Shades of Grey being shown in mainstream theaters has taken a very dark, twisted turn.

A 19-year-old freshman at the University of Illinois at Chicago has been arrested on sexual assault charges.  Mohammad Hossain reportedly assaulted a 19-year-old female student in a reenactment of scenes from the movie.

The judge in the case was shocked when he found out that Hossein was a part of several leadership programs at UIC and as a student ambassador to the alumni association.

“Sandra, how can someone involved in all that let a movie persuade him to do something like this?” Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. asked Hossain’s lawyer, public defender Sandra Bennewitz.

“He would say that it was consensual,” she replied.

Police say that the couple “had previously been intimiate” but were not in a steady relationship.  The report goes on to say that the woman had been willingly participating in the movie reenactment until Hossein started whipping her with a belt.

The producers of the film would not comment on the incident.

Jerusalem Mayor Tackles Attacker

The mayor of Jerusalem and his security guard wrestled a Palestinian attacker to the ground on Sunday after he stabbed an ultra-Orthodox Jew at an intersection.

Mayor Nir Barkat is shown on security footage walking to the attacker with his security guard before lunging at him and pinning the attacker to the street.  Once the man was subdued by the Mayor, other residents came and restrained him until police arrived on the scene.

The video shows the attacker waving a knife around in the air before stabbing one man and attempting to stab a second.  The victims were not seriously hurt according to police officials.

“My bodyguard took out his weapon and when he aimed at the terrorist, the terrorist dropped his knife and we immediately tackled him on the ground to make sure that he cannot continue with the terror attack,” Barkat told reporters.

Barkat was an officer in a paratroopers unit before going into business and politics.

Detroit Man Stabs Two People For Not Being Muslim

A Detroit man has been arrested after he stabbed two people at a bus stop who told him they were not Muslims.

Terrance Thomas approached a bus stop near Detroit on Saturday where a group was making small talk.  Thomas then asked the people if they were Muslims.  Two of them group said they were not Muslim.

Thomas then pulled out a knife and stabbed one victim five times and the other victim once in the hand.

Thomas fled the scene but was caught by police just a few minutes after his assault.  He had two knives and a package of marijuana.

Thomas is jailed on one million dollars bond facing charges of two counts to assault with intent to murder, once count of carrying a dangerous weapon and possession of a controlled substance.

The FBI announced they are investigating the attack as a hate crime.

Denmark Gunman “Came Out Wanting To Wage Holy War”

A friend of the gunman who killed two people and wounded four others in Denmark is telling the media that he came out of prison wanting to “wage Holy war.”

The gunman, identified as 22-year-old Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, belonged to the Brothas gang and had a long, violent criminal history.  He had been behind bars for two years in the stabbing of a 19-year-old and was only released two weeks ago.

“He went into prison a gang member, one of us—a petty criminal, I suppose. He came out wanting to wage a holy war,” friend Abo Saddam, 24, told the UK Mirror. “I don’t know who he spoke to in jail, but he must have made friends with other Muslims who made him the way he was when he came out.”

Saddam told the newspaper that it was recent attacks that fanned the flames.

“Prison changed him. He became a much harder Muslim with more hardcore beliefs. Not only that but he wanted to act on those beliefs as well, instead of just talking about them,” he continued. “He was inspired by the Charlie Hebdo attacks– I am sure of it—[and believed that] anyone who makes a mockery of Islam deserves to die.”

Two people have been arrested in connection with the attacks for helping El-Hussein with the murderous rampage.