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In this episode of Sekulow, Logan Sekulow leads a discussion on the recent FBI intervention that successfully prevented a potential Halloween terror attack in Michigan. This thwarted threat reflects the ongoing efforts and vigilance required to maintain national security and rebuild public trust in governmental agencies. Join us as we break down the implications and significance of this operation, and analyze how it affects the public’s confidence in the FBI’s mission to keep America safe.
SPEAKER 05 :
We’ve got breaking news. The FBI stops planned terror attack in Michigan.
SPEAKER 10 :
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110.
SPEAKER 05 :
And now your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome to Sekulow Friday, folks. We made it here. It’s October 31st.
SPEAKER 06 :
However you celebrate, you know, we’ll just leave it at that. Reformation Day.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, yeah. Tomorrow is Reformation Day, right? I think it’s the 31st. Is it today? Pretty sure. Either way, hey, 1-800-684-3110. The FBI has been hard at work. And you know what? We can actually say that for once. The FBI. we found out has thwarted a, what would have been a potentially large terrorist attack in Dearborn, Michigan, or in the Michigan area. This was planned for tonight. This was planned for a Halloween attack, a tweet, a X post, if you will, that’s for you. Well, Came out this morning. Appreciate it. From Kash Patel. It said this morning, the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan who are allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend. More details to come. Thanks to the men and women of the FBI and law enforcement everywhere, standing guard 24 seven and crushing our mission. to defend the homeland. The FBI spokesperson confirmed this. The federal agents were in Dearborn and Inkster, Michigan, last night. We want to assure our residents there’s no threat to the community. And then he puts to have a happy and safe Halloween weekend. So this, again, is a big moment for the FBI to, of course, look, the idea of celebrating thwarting a terrorist attack the fact that we are even having to do this is sad in general but we know that this is probably happening a lot more than we even are aware of all the time and this was a big enough one to cause enough stir to at least go out there and say it but as you were and Will and I were talking earlier this at least should be giving you a bit more trust in this current iteration of the FBI.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, and I think that’s why it’s important for statements like this to be released. Yes, we don’t know how many times maybe in the past that the FBI thwarted a terror attack and didn’t publicize it. But the difference here is that people lost their faith in the institution so much over the last four years that these statements are necessary because I don’t feel like it’s assumed anymore that the FBI is out there doing actual law enforcement, stopping terror attacks on the U.S. homeland. And it’s a breath of fresh air when you see the director come out and say this and say, here’s what we did. There was law enforcement activity. They’ve arrested individuals. And they have said there’s no longer, we consider, a threat to the community in Michigan over Halloween weekend. I don’t know that people would have felt the same way even if they were coming out with those statements under the previous FBI. We know, I know you talked about yesterday, the Arctic Frost investigation. That’s what the FBI was spending their time on under the past four years, under the last administration. They were going on witch hunts, no pun intended on Halloween, but they were going on witch hunts. They were looking for ways to combat their political enemies Not stopping terror. Now, that’s not to say they didn’t stop terror, but the American people lost that faith in the FBI to do their core mission.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, they have to… We got to build back better. Well, that’s what the trust in the FBI. That’s what it is?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Is that the slogan? That’s the slogan of the new FBI. Yeah. Cash Patel trademarked that. It is a moment we need to be looking at and being… Look, everyone needs to be aware tonight, in any kind of major event, of course, that this kind of thing can happen. And look, if we go back just… 10 months ago, there was the attacks over New Year’s Eve. There was all of those issues that have happened in the previous administration. Of course, there will be things that are going to happen during this administration. Let’s not just be blind to the fact that everything is going to be caught. But when you had a significant what could have been a significant tragedy that could have really happened. You know, destroyed a lot of people’s not only lives, but like you said, trust in American people. There are celebrations tonight. There are a lot of kids out tonight. It’s good to see the FBI doing their job. What do you think about this? Hey, the first half hour, I want to take as many calls as I can. Because second half hour, we’re actually going to play a lot of what we were doing at CPAC, the ACLJ. Over the weekend or over this week, Jordan’s been out. You heard from yesterday, spending time at the White House and other places in Washington, D.C. We have a lot of that footage, amazing footage. We’re going to play a lot of that in the back half. So if you want to call in, this is actually the time to do it. 1-800-684-3110. How do you feel about the current status of our FBI, of Kash Patel, of Dan Bongino? And of course, they thwarted a big attack here on Halloween. Give me a call. 1-800-684-3110. We’ll be right back with more on Sekulow. welcome back to seculo phone lines like i said are open for you at 1-800-684-3110 and over the next segment we’re going to be taking calls this segment and next segment because i want to hear from you as this big attack was thwarted this was in michigan this was this morning uh that this was stopped attack that was supposed to happen at least over this weekend if not tonight and will and i were just talking in the break obviously this is halloween october 31st the target of this terror attack likely could have been on children. As you assume, this is a majority children’s holiday. Obviously, we’re not sure of the details. That’s just pure speculation. But when you look at what’s happening here and in Dearborn, Michigan, where we know that, you know, not only is it a thriving community of people from all over the world, but there’s obviously a thriving Islamic community there. But what we know about that, that’s not to diminish that we also know the rhetoric that has come out of right that specific area and that’s even beyond just an area of your town that happens to have a larger group of people who are muslim it is not about that this has been an area that has been a really a hotbed for a lot of issues now we don’t know who was arrested right i don’t want to just purely speculate but of course that is where people’s minds are headed
SPEAKER 03 :
And when you also, like you said, you brought up that we will know more details when the filings come out, when there’s charging documents and things like that, that we will see eventually. But that these arrests were made, the fact that it is a Halloween attack, like the New Year’s Eve attacks, things like that. The people that are out in big crowds on New Year’s Eve are typically adults that are out partying and doing revelry and things like that. But when you think about Halloween, as you brought up, that the easy targets where there could be people gathered together would typically be something that would have more children involved. And that is where you start to think about the worst case scenarios that the FBI was able to thwart here. And I actually want to take Hunter on line one. Okay. I’m calling from Ohio because he makes a good point that I want to piggyback off of. Hunter from Ohio, you’re listening on the radio and you’re on Sekulow.
SPEAKER 02 :
Hey, how’s it going? Going well. Yeah, I just wanted to call in and comment. The work that Cash Patel is doing is phenomenal because it’s really just going down to basic ground police work. and making the country safer. And he’s being as transparent as he’s able to be, as is the administration. Especially with investigations, you can only be so transparent when you’re actively looking out these threats. As far as the threats coming from Dearborn, as you were saying, it’s a hotbed right now, and it’s in the news, and it’s not going to… uh, be good, good publicity for it. Not that it’s had good publicity in the past, but, the terrorist attack specifically, uh, towards children is a very, uh, dangerous thing because what’s, what’s going to be the next thing to, to cause more division in this country and to, to sow more, more the seeds of, uh, Division is attacks on children.
SPEAKER 03 :
I agree with you. I also I believe, once again, a lot of times the purpose of terror, knowing that a one off attack or however it may reveal itself. isn’t necessarily going to bring down the country, right? It’s going to be a horrific tragedy. But the attacks that Islamic radicals have been able to pull off on the United States aren’t to the scale or purpose of something like 9-11. Now, I feel like they are more to sow fear, to spread more discord, and to tear the country apart internally. And something like that would have a large effect, as Hunter brought up. But I also wanted to bring up what he said earlier. that it’s great to see the job that Kash Patel is doing in the police work. A lot of times Kash Patel, even in the conservative circle, gets the criticism from the right of not doing enough to go after the bad political actors that were many of them. It very much looks like there were criminal activity or at least conspiracy activity under the previous administration and beyond. If we’re only focused on that, and that’s the only thing Kash Patel is focused on, is accountability for those people, which I think is important, and we’re seeing a lot of that come out, then he’s not doing any better than the Christopher Rays and the James Comeys. Because at the end of the day, that’s not the only thing the FBI needs to be focused on. The FBI needs to be focused on stopping these things from happening. And I’m glad that he’s showcasing it and saying, here’s what we did. We have thwarted a terror attack. He’s done this multiple other times where they’ve gone out and showcased the actual police work of the FBI. Because that is the purpose of the FBI. I don’t want it to just be investigating the things that happened under Arctic Frost. I want to see that. I want there to be teams dedicated to that. But if that’s the entirety of the FBI, like it was, it appears under the previous administration, then it isn’t keeping us safe. And I want the FBI to be an institution that keeps America safe, not that just finds out the corruption in previous administrations. Both are important, but they have to be able to do both at the same time.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I think that’s true. And I think also what happens if you start talking about these a little more publicly, it does, as we know. Yeah. scare other people who are interested in doing damage and harm and terrorism to the United States because it puts them on warning that there is the FBI ready to come and get them and arrest them even before their events happen. So of course part of thwarting terror is stopping other terror so you put out these statements like guess what here’s what happened so if anyone’s thinking about doing anything this weekend you better watch out because the FBI is watching very very very closely so again uh you don’t want to say a chalk’s up to a win but it is a something that we need to be looking at as uh at least a reignite a reignition of our fbi to where you feel good about what they’re doing and the work they’re doing keeping us safe you’re right it’s important to have all of those sort of more political arms too to make sure that we are keeping everyone in check but that can’t be the majority of the work that they’re doing And of course, it seems like Kash Patel and Dan Bagino have done that. There have been, obviously, with all FBIs, really all departments of government, there will always be blunders. There will always be issues. These are major organizations who… We’ve employed lots of people, but it is nice to see when there is this kind of proven win. I want to hear from you as well, though, at 1-800-684-3110. We’ve got quite a few lines open right now, and like I said, in the back half of the show, we’re going to hear from Jordan in Washington, D.C., and really dive deep into the panels that were held at CPAC. Really, really, really. It’s brand new information. We’re not playing you old content. This is stuff that happened in the last couple of days. And I want you to see it because it really is excellent material. And it’s stuff that you need to see. It’s about ending Christian persecution and so much more with top leading names. So stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, usually I take those calls at the end of the show. I want to hear from you right now at 1-800-684-3110. Let’s go to Michael who is calling in Florida. Michael, go ahead.
SPEAKER 08 :
Gentlemen, could you please, even if you don’t agree with them, give me the defense that either Schumer or the media is using to try and defend their argument with the shutdown being the Republicans’ fault.
SPEAKER 05 :
Michael, yeah, we have Senator Blackburn on yesterday and she’s saying, you know, this is the exact same, you know, that we’ve had during the Biden years. It is the same bills. Everything’s moving forward normal. And last night I was in an event that had people from a lot of different political backgrounds. And of course, you know, a lot of people’s attention is on SNAP, which ends tomorrow. And it seemed like the blame was being pointed at the Republicans. Now, the Democrats have also now created their bill to save SNAP, but of course, it’s got a couple extra caveats in there. As the Republican bill was two pages long, said nothing else to keep SNAP funded. Of course, that’s the food assistance programs, you know, food stamps. But, Michael, we can give you some of the reasons that they say it’s the Republicans’ fault. Almost all of it is so quickly crushable, even the ballroom. You know, they’ll throw those things out there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, Michael, I would say their key point, because the one thing that they’re negotiating over, sorry, not negotiating over, that the Democrats are demanding is an expansion of Obamacare subsidies, right? So they are saying that the Republicans are willing to shut the government down because they do not want to deliver more affordable health care to Americans. So that is the easiest way to lay out their argument that now it crumbles, as you said, because this continuing resolution, this isn’t the time where they’re going to negotiate more appropriations, etc., The Democrats want, I think it’s like a trillion and a half more dollars spent on what would normally be a clean CR. So that is their biggest argument is that the Republicans are willing to shut the government down instead of delivering more affordable health care. It’s a topsy-turvy way of flipping the argument on its head when this is the way that these continuing resolutions have been happening for probably decades now, instead of making changes to the appropriations at this time. It’s not worked out for Republicans when they have been in the minority party and tried to force an agenda item. They’re the ones that got the blame. And now the Democrats are trying to still blame Republicans when they’re the ones who have changed it. because donald trump’s not getting involved with negotiations over the demands of the democrats that they are continuing to keep it shut down so it’s not a good argument but that’s what they’re saying and you know what their base when they hear them just say the words republican shutdown they believe it uh-huh right drop bad
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s sad that this is where we’ve come to. But Will’s right. Especially when you only pay attention to one side of the news media. And that’s why at least I like what we’ve just done here. Will just broke down for you the other side’s argument. So now you know. You know both sides. You can make the decision yourself. That’s one of the things I like about what we do here. We’re not going to lie to you. We’re not going to give you one way or the other. We’re going to tell you the truth. Phone lines are open for you. I want to hear from you. 1-800-684-3110. We’ll be back and take as many calls as we can in the next segment. Then we’ll head to CPAC. Do that early. I just want to keep him on their toes. Keep Tim on his toes. That’s what I’m saying. Because we’re heading into November. November, December, the most important months to support the work of the ACLJ. Hey, if you want a gift today, that’s fine too. I’m not going to stop you. But man, next week, we are going to start talking to you about all the different ways that you can get involved here at the ACLJ. Because again, November, December, for all nonprofits, but specifically for us, these are the months that matter the most. You’re going to have some special opportunities, and we want to get you involved. Right now, though, phone lines are open for you, and I want to hear from you. This will probably be the last segment. We’ll take calls. Maybe one more segment after this, we could take calls. So go get in line if you can. 1-800-684-3110. I’ll do my best. to get to as many of you can. Of course, we are talking right now about the FBI stopping the terrorist attack that was planned in Michigan for today or later this weekend, over Halloween weekend specifically. Kash Patel put out a statement. This statement essentially read, this morning they were able to do multiple arrests. This morning the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan who were plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend. More details to come thanks to the men and women of the FBI and law enforcement everywhere. Standing guard 24-7 and crushing our mission to defend… We want to show our residents, and this was put out later on, that there’s no threat to the community at this time. Obviously, for those in Michigan and those in the Dearborn area, I’m sure it’s going to be a very different tone tonight. but hopefully you can rest a little easier knowing that your FBI was on it. But I know when those kinds of things happen, even if you know that there was a threat that it can change. So hopefully for your kid’s sake, as you’re out there celebrating tonight, uh, be safe, you know, obviously be aware as all of us should be who are parents, but be aware of what’s your surroundings and what’s going on. Uh, but know that your FBI is hard at work right now. And I want to thank everyone who worked on that this morning. It’s always, um, It’s always horrible to hear, but, uh, alleviating to, to hear that it was stopped. So let’s go ahead and take a phone call. Let’s go to Martin. Who’s calling in North Carolina, watching on YouTube. Martin, go ahead. Yes, sir.
SPEAKER 07 :
I appreciate you taking my call in, in what was in the segment before is that obviously in the upper echelon of the FBI, the Homeland security and DOJ, They can work together to help keep us safe and from danger. But then again, I’m adding a little more than what I told the screener because it just came across for what the last caller said. Then you’ve got judges that are misrepresenting, want to say that Trump is wanting to stop SNAP. And it’s the Democrats. So we got some people that are working together for doing the right things, being transparent and keeping us safe. But then in the lower echelon, we’re still fighting that battle.
SPEAKER 05 :
Martin, do you know how many people that I want to respond to on social media with just the bill that Senator Blackburn was talking about yesterday, that it’s two pages to push it through to save SNAP benefits so tomorrow people don’t start going hungry? And I’ve stopped myself. And I’ve stopped myself from sharing it because I know it’s going to open up a door that I don’t want to open up right now, because there’s kind of, it sounds bad, but it feels like there’s no way to stop the one sidedness of this media operation. Now, a lot of my friends and family, even those on the other side, have said, well, we’re going to start, you know, food drives for people who need it. And I’m just going to be like, fantastic. I don’t want to thwart you from doing that. I don’t want you to stop doing that. That’s stuff that we should be called to and should be doing anyway. by the way, is helping people out, feeding the hungry. It’s in a book that we all seem to read. You know, so am I fine with that? Yeah, great. Go ahead. Do that. That’s what I want. I also think, and you know, I know that I also saw someone post evangelicals or say, you know, they’re the worst because they say we need to end the SNAP programs and all that. No, I know there’s a lot of people who want reform in the SNAP programs and want to see it get less fraud. They want to see less waste. They want to see better food. You know, there are a lot of states that are now offering, if you have SNAP, that your money is doubled. if you shop at a farmer’s market and that kind of thing and look i know i’m not the shining bill of health here so i’m not gonna i’m talking to myself as well and saying listen if those kind of things we can do and maybe rfk can get in there as well that’s fantastic and it’s a bipartisan thing health should not be partisan you know feeding people should not be partisan and really it’s not It’s just the news services that have decided to make it that way and the Democrats at this point.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, last night when I was reading up, getting ready for the day, I read an article and saw a post on this. I’m not going to call it out by name, but it’s a left-leaning kind of cultural magazine. Is it got lots of words? Yeah, you wouldn’t like it.
SPEAKER 01 :
There’s too many words.
SPEAKER 03 :
There’s a whole campaign they’re doing now that is fill the food banks And they’re using like hashtag no kings, things like that. And I’m just like that. I agree with this message, but you make me angry because you’re making it an anti-Trump statement. It’s misguided upsetness, but also a really genuinely good thing. Like, why weren’t you doing fill the food banks two weeks ago? or a month ago before the shutdown why can’t we all agree that that helping our neighbors and being charitable and helping those that are hungry is a good thing the other problem with it though is that they they can’t have it both ways they are trying to say that trump is a no kings he cannot just run all over the government do whatever he wants but with this they’re trying to say Well, take the power of the purse away from Congress and separation of powers and just keep funding a program.
SPEAKER 05 :
You can’t have it both ways. I have seen that. I’ve seen that. Well, Trump could just go in and do it. You know, it’s like, well, again, as Will said, what are we talking about here? Let’s go to Mike, who’s calling in North Carolina on line two. Mike, go ahead.
SPEAKER 01 :
I’m just trying to convince the Republicans to stay exactly where they are because the Democrats are going to have to cave in Uh, eventually, because if the Republicans cave at all, then the time before the 2026 elections, the Democrats are going to. say that MAGA and Mr. Trump didn’t believe in what was going on anyway.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Mike, I mean, this is political gamesmanship for sure. Absolutely. There’s no question about this. This is being used to create ads. This is being used to create the midterm election problems. Of course, there is heading into next week, a big election in New York City that we’re all going to be talking about and all eyes are going to be on New York City’s mayoral race. That is true, and that’s what’s happening. And Will, I also think that you have President Trump and some of these other people calling and saying, you know what, we got to end this. Maybe that supermajority thing needs to go away as well.
SPEAKER 03 :
Nuclear options. Yesterday on the show, your title said Trump goes nuclear. We could have saved it for today because now he’s actually talking about nuclear in the Senate. Explain that. Nuclear option. You got a minute and 40 seconds. The Senate has rules in place to try and be different than the House where all you need is 50% plus one vote in the House to pass legislation. In the Senate, you can have a majority, but you still have to have buy-in from the other party most of the time, unless you have a super majority. You have to have 60 votes to advance legislation, not for final passage, but to move on to the bill. They also did this to stop the all night long true filibusters where a senator would, Mr. Smith goes to Washington style, stop legislation from moving forward by talking as long as they could, not seating the floor. So you have to have 60 votes to move on to the legislation. That’s called the filibuster as we know it now. The nuclear option would be to redo the rules and just say, no, to move on to the bill, you just need 50 plus one to move forward. And they’ve already done it for a lot of nominations because they would hold up nominations for forever. There are people that are institutionalists that love the rules of the Senate and the debate that it brings about and would say we shouldn’t do that. I’m torn on it because it’s a weird world where you can’t get anything done anymore with our Congress that sometimes maybe you need to recalibrate. But it’s a tough one. Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, hey, that was the end of our first half hour. Second half hour, we’re going to be back in the next segment, and then we’re going to kick it over to Washington, D.C., and you’re going to hear from our team at CPAC. It’s great content. I want you to stay around for it. It’s different than our normal broadcast content, but it’s just as impactful, if not more informative. It’s going to be arming you with everything you need when it comes to talking about Christian persecution worldwide and so much more. That’s going to come up in the second half hour. If you don’t get it that second half hour, find it on ACLJ.org, however you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER 10 :
keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 05 :
Welcome back to Sekulow, second half hour here on the show today. We’re going to kick it over to CPAC Washington, D.C. in just a few minutes in our next segment. Will’s got a comment he wants to read that came in from our friends and our viewers over on Rumble, which again, Rumble’s another one of the outlets. You can get us on YouTube, you can get us on Rumble, you can get us on the Salem News Channel, of course, on Terrestrial Radio, Satellite Radio, and SiriusXM Family Talk. We broadcast nationwide and worldwide, of course, online at ACLJ.org and the ACLJ app. Just wanted to
SPEAKER 03 :
like all that will kicking it over to our friends on rumble yeah this is from joe on rumble and i think it ties into what we’ll be getting into with the cpac content coming up but it says aclj seems to be the only group speaking up against christian persecution please don’t forget the ccp persecuting christianity that would obviously be the chinese communist party uh One, I would say we are not the only group, but we do have a large platform and we do really care about it and put a lot of effort into those. Even when it’s not the popular thing on social media or on broadcast, we still fight hard. against persecution. But I think you’ll also see the fact that CPAC hosted this summit and brought us alongside. One, they know that the ACLJ truly cares about it, but they also see that it’s needed. So I think that’s a really good thing that we can have a bigger platform and a different way to showcase this. But also on the CCP persecuting Christianity, we sent a letter to Secretary Rubio about that recent Christian missionary pastor that was detained by the CCP. We have represented and fought for many Christians in China over the years. And so that’s a place we don’t forget about. Sometimes… You don’t want to elevate it publicly in some of these forums, the work we’re doing, because it could be not great for the individual when that platform gets raised. So just know that if you don’t hear about it, it doesn’t mean that we’re not working on it. A lot of times that is the case to protect the people, but that’s the work that you are supporting when you support the ACLJ.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s right. And you should do that today at ACLJ.org. This is the end of October. So we’re about to head in to the two most important months of the year, November and December. And there’s going to be some big opportunities for you to support the work. And I encourage you to do that. You can, of course, give today and know that that’d be great. Always the last day of the month is important for us because we are trying to hit budget. We are trying to make sure that we are. doing our best job to where next month things are running safe. But November and December are going to be big months for us. So I encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ. We’ve been very transparent with the work that we do here. As Will said, there are certain things we can and can’t talk about, but we’re around the world. And know that that means not only just our European office, the ECLJ, our ECLJ Jerusalem office, but so much more. And our team is constantly working. They are constantly in action 24 hours a day. And I truthfully mean that 24 hours a day. I wake up middle of the night and i will have emails and threads that have started and text threads from our legal team from our media team from everywhere working so hard and uh you know thank them and pray for them as well you know that is something that we need to make sure we do each and every day as well as make sure you’re praying for our team here because though your financial support is obviously very needed uh subscribing on youtube is very important those kind of things that help get the word out But we know your prayers mean a lot. We’ll see if we have time to take any more calls. I’m not so sure if we’re going to get to screen this call that’s up right now. If not, unfortunately, you’re probably going to have to say that was the end of the calls for the day. I appreciate everyone who did call in. Look, tomorrow is when the SNAP benefits end. I know a lot of you are hurting. I see it in the comments. It’s pretty shocking, the American people, to see how many of you How many of you are using these benefits? And I think you need to look at your neighbor and know that you don’t know what’s actually going on behind the scenes all the time. So let’s keep it aware of that. Of course, we want to thank our FBI as well on this Halloween when they looked like there may have been a significant terror attack tonight. Very thankful that they were hard at work and thwarted that attack. When we get back, we’re heading to Washington, D.C. We’ll set that up a little bit, but you’re going to hear what my brother was doing over this week. You know, he’d been on the show once. I think he called in, but he’s been hard at work and really some fascinating information. I’ve seen some of it. I haven’t seen all of it yet. So I’m going to sit here and watch all of it along with you because I’m excited to see everything that went down in Washington, D.C. over the last few days. I got some great reports from our team and our team in Washington, D.C. They were telling me all about it. So I look forward to seeing it. I want to thank all the ACLJ champions also as well. I see a few of you in the chat right now. Those are people that give on a monthly recurring basis. You can go ahead and do that as well. Whenever you make a donation, you can opt in and know that really helps. You can opt in essentially like a membership kind of thing. It helps keep all this content with no paywall. Helps get our legal work with no fees. All of that is because of you. So I want to say thank you. We’ll be right back and we’ll head to CPAC.
SPEAKER 03 :
Welcome back to Seculo. We’ve got something special for you to close out this week. And we’ve talked about all week that Jordan’s been in Washington, D.C. at the CPAC Summit, which was focusing on persecution around the world and how we can be involved. And as you know, that’s something that’s very important to the ACLJ, something we’ve been fighting against the persecution of Christians worldwide for the entire history of this organization. And our team was able to be a part of this and was able to lead panels, be involved in panels. And so we really thought it was important that you see what Jordan and the DC team was involved in this week. So we’re going to go right to that. And while you’re at it, while you watch this and you see the impact the ACLJ is having both in D.C. and around the world, go to ACLJ.org and support us today. It’s the end of the month. It’s a great time to do it. So go to ACLJ.org and give a donation today. And now we’re going to go to D.C. from this week with Jordan and the D.C. team at the CPAC Summit.
SPEAKER 09 :
We’ve been talking about what’s happening around the world, but I think we have to also talk about what’s happening inside the United States so that we can continue to be that country that is the beacon of hope, that is the headquarters to combat Christian persecution worldwide. We have to make sure that our churches and our Christian brothers and sisters here in the United States understand the significance of this issue, and also continue to fight for their rights here in the United States, which are ongoing fights that we battle every single day at the American Center for Law and Justice in courts across the country. Sometimes it’s the federal government, then the federal government is on your side and you’re still dealing with state governments, local governments, school boards, municipalities, all trying to silence The Christian student, the Christian teacher, the Christian employee at their office who they say don’t keep the Bible on your desk or you can’t have a cross somewhere in your cubicle. All of those issues are still at play right here in the United States. They are not necessarily the issues of persecution that we handle as the ACLJ with our international offices worldwide. But we have to maintain… our religious liberty here. And this panel is very interesting because we have an ACLJ attorney who works on these issues, as well as a frequent client of the American Center for Law and Justice, Reverend Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition. And I want to go to Ben first. This is Ben Sisney with the ACLJ. Ben, we saw at the beginning of our organization at the American Center for Law and Justice, it was literally about a Bible club. The case was called Mergen’s. It went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. A public school student, there’s all these clubs at school. I want to start a Bible club. School says no. And ultimately, it makes its way to the Supreme Court and we win. But then the cases continue, whether it’s speech on the sidewalk. And I say speech because for so many years, The free exercise of religion had been eviscerated by the U.S. Supreme Court and in the lower courts. It meant really nothing in the United States. And so the ACLJ started with a different idea. Let’s not focus on it being just religious. It’s speech. And the court still cares a lot about the First Amendment. and the free speech, they’re still okay there. So why is religious speech being treated differently than political speech or corporate speech and other speech? I’ll go there. Now, more recently, we’ve seen the free exercise clause get some teeth back, but that is just recently at the US Supreme Court. And Ben, I wanted you to address that, that we have finally started to move from just saying we’re speech just like all others, which is true, But at the same time, the Free Exercise Clause does mean something in the United States of America.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, that’s absolutely right. Thank you, Jordan. And thank you to CPAC, the Schlaps, and your crew. This is just a fantastic opportunity to get to speak about these things and to share these important principles with people who care and to help educate people that they need to care more. And so it’s an incredible opportunity. Jordan, to your question, yes. So there was sort of this dark gray era where we didn’t really know, and it was And we’ve had a string of positive cases recently, some just really solid wins and well drafted opinions. And as you point out, focusing back actually on the free exercise aspect of the First Amendment, which is, I mean, it’s not exactly half of the First Amendment, but speech and free exercise are those are those are some significant pillars there. And of course, obviously, is the reason it’s in the First Amendment. Right. But but so so we’re we’re we’re gaining background, really, and there’s more ground to gain, right, and we’ll all keep doing what we’re doing, but I think that part of the problem, why, because we wrestle with the question, like, with these great wins, why are we still having more cases, more, why do we still have to keep suing municipalities? and school boards or counties or states or whatever, when the Supreme Court is laying down what to most of us seems relatively clear guidance and rules. And I think there’s multiple reasons for that. One is lower courts are, I think, sort of reluctant or whether it’s intentionally, I think, depending on the subject matter or just, you know, they’re busy. You know, they got a lot of cases and they’re not always up to speed on the latest. And so it takes time for precedent from the Supreme Court to sort of work its way down across the system. I think that’s probably part of it. I think another part of it is actually some of the governmental entities involved, they’re kind of saying, I don’t care what the Supreme Court says. I’m going to keep doing this and you’re going to have to sue me because guess what? Most people have to pay lawyers. It’s being a plaintiff against a governmental entity is not a small thing.
SPEAKER 09 :
even when you don’t have to pay the lawyer. Well, I think this is key, right? And so I want to bring in Reverend Mahoney into this because the ACLJ, it exists to defend religious liberty in the United States, the American Center for Law and Justice, and it’s become kind of the hub for the work that we do all around the world. But we are non-profit, so our donors donate so that people who typically would not be able to afford attorneys to fight back because they feel like their rights were violated, And so we get out in the meeting, we tell them all the time, if you feel that way, you need to contact us. And you’re gonna talk to a real attorney. They’re gonna walk you through. It’s not gonna cost you anything. We’ve represented you, I don’t know how many times exactly, but more than dozens, more than dozens, of times when you have faced arrest, imprisonment because of speech on a public sidewalk in the United States of America. And I want you to talk about that, how important it is that we make sure our public sidewalks continue to be free speech zones.
SPEAKER 04 :
For sure, Jordan. I want to especially thank Jordan and Ben for getting me out of jail many, many times. So a big heartfelt thanks to you. In our national archives, we see etched eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. We continually have to fight and stand for our freedoms. If we in America want to prevent persecutions of Christians in the public square, we must practice our Christian faith in the public square. That’s critical. And… I’d been arrested for all good things, okay, 112 times, and I can’t go over all those cases, but several keys in which the ACLJ could not have been more helpful. There were no demonstrations allowed at presidential inaugurations before 1997. We planned a major event of prayer and public witness because of President Clinton’s support of partial birth abortion. We were told if we went on the parade route for praying, we would be arrested. And I’ll never forget my comment in the Washington Post, hell will freeze over before we surrender our right to pray in the public square. Immediately contacted the ACLJ. They went into federal court. And we won. And for the first time in history, free speech, religious liberty, was allowed at presidential inaugural parades, showing that public engagement, you don’t have to be fearful of trusting God, but then for entities like the ACLJ, was protected. Next, we were praying in front of the human interest section for a young boy named Ilion Gonzalez. The Secret Service told us if we stayed on that sidewalk to pray, we would be arrested. We said, we’re going to pray. We went to the ACLJ, and what I think is one of our most historic victories, the federal courts ruled that if people are on a sidewalk walking their dog, going to Starbucks, if that is open for that, then it has to be open for prayer. It has to be open for free speech, and we won that case, opening up religious freedom in the public square across America. And before I turn it back to you, Jordan, remember, The greatest threat we have to Christian persecution in America is a silent and apathetic and indifferent church. We must be bold. We must be courageous. I feel like I’m getting a spirit to preach here. And we must never compromise our values and be a witness. And we are so thankful there are organizations out there to stand with us.
SPEAKER 03 :
When we come back on Seculo, we will have more from this CPAC Summit in Washington, D.C. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to Sekulow, final segment of the week. And we want to go back to Washington, D.C. with more of this great content from our team at the CPAC Summit dealing with persecution of Christians globally. Take a watch.
SPEAKER 09 :
It takes those who are willing to stand up and say, no, I’m going to pray. And then there’s got to be that legal group there that they can rely on that’s not going to cost them and bankrupt them because of their prayer in the United States of America. It’s not going to bankrupt that kid’s family who calls the ACLJ and said, you know what they said, he can’t pass out Bible verses when these kids are passing out whatever they want, they said. In his own free time. Or a case that we’re ongoing right now. where literally the issue of freedom of speech, it was on Constitution Day, where public schools have to teach about the Constitution, and a student brought up Charlie Kirk and what had happened there. The teacher didn’t go into a big speech about turning point or the values he was speaking on, but brought up other political assassinations related to speech in the United States. And this teacher was immediately reprimanded, Ben. And we’re still fighting that up right now. Just because she responded to what a student had to say on Constitution Day in the United States of America about free speech. And again, the idea that religious speech is speech and it should be just as free as any other speech.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, that’s right. And I think this reflects sometimes, how do these things still happen? Sometimes it’s ignorance. Sometimes I think there’s still this old knee-jerk, well, separation of church and state, which I hope everyone in here knows what the real deal was with that. But this sort of knee-jerk, oh, well, you know, religion and politics, and we don’t want to talk about it. offend people, right? There’s this whole offense thing and you gotta be tolerant and of course tolerance is a one way street if you notice the trend. And so that’s an idea that motivates and sometimes it’s just supervisors at a school that They think they’re following the rule they’re supposed to follow. And we’ve had clients, Jordan, who said, like, you know, my boss told me confidentially, like, they don’t like what this rule is, but they have to enforce it, you know, something like that. But I think some of it is just those kinds of things. And some of it, again, is just open hostility, you know, under the guise of anti-discrimination, you know, and that’s a trend we’re seeing, I think, more and more, I think, across the board. is the municipalities and the state governments that don’t want to play ball with Supreme Court precedent. Oh, well, we’re not banning them, barring them, doing all these things because they’re Christian, but we’re doing it because of what they believe. Now think about that for a second. So, but that’s where we are. And, you know, as long as that’s where we are, we’ll keep filing the lawsuits and using our lawful legal process that thank the Lord we still have here in the United States. And we’ve got to be vigilant, vigilant and stand and not grow weary. Someone said earlier, don’t grow weary, you know, invoking scripture. And I would say, and stand and keep standing. And then after that, stand some more and you don’t have to stand alone because we’re here. There are other groups here. and I think part of the tool of the enemy is to isolate you and make you think that you’re on your own and you don’t have routes, you don’t have opportunities, alternatives. You do. If you’re not sure where to start, call us or anyone else. There are ways to lawfully, peacefully defend your rights as a Christian here in the United States, and it’s not just about you, it’s about your community, your church, your school, your state, the country, and also us continuing to get to be the city on the hill for the rest of the world.
SPEAKER 09 :
And Reverend Mahoney, it takes those who are willing to be, to stand up. To say, you know what, I’m going to pray or I’m going to start the Bible Club. And when they tell me no, I’m going to call. I’m going to make a call to ACLJ. I’m going to call and say, can you help me here? And our job is to make sure people know that that’s available. I mean, it’s still our job. And that Christians in America… can feel, depending on where you live and what communities you’re inside, that that’s not an issue inside the United States anymore. But there is no way that we can combat the horrendous Christian persecution and the violence that we see worldwide, all over the world, to our Christian brothers and sisters if we aren’t standing up for our own rights here and making sure our fellow brothers and sisters know here that we still have to ensure our rights. We still have to make sure who’s getting elected is who’s appointing the federal judges. And then who’s confirming them? Well, the US Senate. So we can’t stay out of the political process, we can’t stay out of any of the processes, but to maintain the United States as that headquarters, which I’m really proud to say still is the headquarters. That’s why we’re gathered here in Washington DC today. as a headquarters for religious liberty. To maintain that, we have to make sure we maintain religious liberty in the United States through all different political climates.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that’s for sure. And my message here is to stand, be bold, but you are not alone. First, we have our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have the inspiration of our brothers and sisters around the world, and we have organizations like the ACLJ. I want to share one story where it was so comforting to me. I got a six-month jail sentence for praying on a public sidewalk in front of a Planned Parenthood in Houston, Texas. I was in for a month, and the ACLJ got involved, and I’ll never forget, I’m sitting there in my orange prison jumpsuit, and all these four, not these guys, but ACLJ attorneys in dark suits come in with their briefcases. I felt, I don’t know if I should use this example, but I felt like a mafia don or something, like what is going on? And they got us out, they got me out, they got the others I was without. I did one month. But here’s the beauty of what it did to Houston. And I want to show the power of engagement. Brothers and sisters, we have to stand. The judge who sentenced us to six months, she so angered the Houston Christian community that they decided the next election cycle they would run a judge against her. They ran a judge against her, he won. That judge later became the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court because of working with the law and public engagement and the best part, his last name was Devine. Houston was actually maybe my greatest jail experience. because I look like I own a Jewish delicatessen and no one’s gonna be afraid of me. And so they put me in with some really dangerous murderers and bank robbers, a Grizzly Adams rapist. And as you sit around and you eat lunch and you’re there with all the folks in prison, what are you in for? I’m in for bank robbery. What are you in for? Armed robbery. What are you in for? Murder. Then they get to me. What are you in for? Prayer. And they looked at me like going, this guy’s really bad if he’s in for prayer. Like, don’t mess with him.
SPEAKER 09 :
So this is, I think, so important. Ben, just a final remark. We’re there for everyone. And also for those who are facing the persecution worldwide, if they’ve got, if you’re here in the United States, you can start by contacting us here in the United States.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, absolutely. You know, ACLJ.org, there’s a process there. And just reach out, get a hold of us. There is a variety of avenues that can be taken. Not everything has to be a federal lawsuit. You know, the allies, the groups, the organizations like CPAC. I mean, there are so many ways that you can join together, have your rights defended, in a variety of ways. And it just takes courage and don’t fall for the trap that you’re alone and you don’t have any options. You do.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you guys.
SPEAKER 11 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you for watching and supporting the ACLJ. Go ahead and support the ACLJ today at ACLJ.org. We’ll talk to you next week.
