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Contact:Theresa Brock

Email: marketing@hervoicemvmt.com

Counter-Protesters Start Riots At Peaceful Prayer Event

[Seattle, WA, May 24] - On Saturday, Christian organizers from the grassroots #DontMessWithOurKids movement held Mayday USA, a permitted event at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle, Washington. While attendees of the event worshipped, prayed, and listened to speakers, there was a significant showing at the event from counter-protesters who violently clashed with police. 

Bruce Harrell, the mayor of Seattle, released a statement after the event, decrying it as “far-right” and unfairly labeling attendees of the peaceful prayer rally as bigots who wished to “provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values.” He went on to say, “While there are broad First Amendment requirements around permitting events under free speech protections, I am directing the Parks Department to review all of the circumstances of this application to understand whether there were legal location alternatives or other adjustments that could have been pursued.”

Organizers of the Mayday USA event were shocked to hear about the mayor’s statement, stating that the Parks Department had suggested Cal Anderson Park after their other desired locations for the event were unavailable. Jenny Donnelly, one of the organizers of the event, released this statement in response: 

We worked closely with the Parks Department for weeks about the entire scope of our event, including bike giveaways, free haircuts, worship, and prayer. Our original application for Pike Place was denied, at which point Cal Anderson Park was offered as an alternative. We sought a second location through the University of Washington but were not able to get a permit there, either, so we applied for Cal Anderson Park—our third choice. After being approved by the Parks Department, we paid for our permit and ensured everything we did aligned with the guidelines they had given us. The day of our event we were forced to end several hours earlier than our permit allowed due to significantly heightened safety concerns.

Mayday USA came to bring families together, pray for them, worship, and preach the gospel. We are three cities into our tour, and until this stop in Seattle, there had not been any violence. In NYC, we had counterprotestors who attended our event; they were peaceful and did not resort to violence. We were happy they joined us, as we are strong advocates for the freedom of speech—even speech we may not agree with. 

I am shocked at the Mayor’s statement that implied that we came to "attack." Anyone who was there or who watched the video coverage can tell who was attacking and instigating violence. We stayed in our permitted area, doing exactly what we had told the Parks Department we would be doing, and did not engage any of the counter-protestors. We even set aside an area where these protesters could peacefully exercise their First Amendment right to protest.

Despite the rioting, Jesus was glorified today—which is the heart of what we came here to do.” 

Mayday USA organizers Jenny Donnelly (Her Voice MVMT) and Ross Johnston (Ross Johnston Ministries) welcome the opportunity to provide comment on the event, the counter-protests, and the mayor’s statement. 

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#DontMessWithOurKids is a grassroots movement that refuses to stand idly by while the children of our nation are indoctrinated by a liberal, political, and sexual agenda that seeks to destroy their God-given identities. We believe we must freely exercise our constitutional rights as Americans as we stand boldly for truth, justice, and righteousness in the public square. 

[Note to Editors: High-resolution images and additional materials are available upon request.]