The lawyer for two Chicago churches has reported that city officials informed his clients that they would consider bulldozing their facilities if they do not comply with COVID-19 edicts.
Matt Staver, the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said on Wednesday that the city is classifying his clients as “public nuisances.” He said they were issued a letter declaring that the city “has the power and duty to cause all nuisances affecting the health of the public to be abated.” The letter threatened a “summary abatement,” which would mean the destruction of the facilities without due process.
Staver said during an appearance on the “Todd Starnes Radio Show” that he is seeking an emergency injunction and hopes to take the case to the Supreme Court. The motion for the injunction is headed to the desk of SCOTUS Justice Brett Kavanaugh right now.
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Rev. Cristian Ionescu, one of the pastors being represented in this case, also told Starnes that he has received citations from the city for violating COVID-19 policies. Metro Praise International’s Pastor Joe Wyrostek reported receiving the “summary abatement” threatening his facility with destruction if he holds a service with more than 10 people.
“We are very disappointed with all of this, including not being considered as essential in the beginning, as a church,” Wyrostek said to NBC Chicago.
Even as violent crime spikes, Chicago city officials use limited police forces to snoop on churches and enforce shutdown mandates in Christian places of worship. This is part of a nationwide trend of left-wing government bureaucrats using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to attack Christianity.
Big League Politics has reported on authorities cracking down on Christians who refuse to surrender their religious liberty due to mass hysteria:
The pastor of a church in Central, La. has returned to the pulpit despite being on house arrest for complications from holding supposedly illegal worship services in contradiction to the governor’s edicts.
Rev. Tony Spell got into words with an anti-Christian protester outside of his Life Tabernacle Church a week ago, which resulted in him being given an ankle monitor after a contentious incident on the road. Regardless of the possible consequences, he was back preaching today while showing off his ankle bracelet in defiance of the consequences.
Spell told his flock that it is a “dirty rotten shame when you’re hiding in America.” His parishioners stand with him fully, singing songs of joy in Christ while waving signs which state: “I stand with Pastor Spell.”
He was released last week and ordered to “refrain from any and all criminal conduct, including but not limited to strictly abiding by the all emergency orders issued by the Governor of the State of Louisiana.” Spell believes that his freedom of religion cannot be abridged by a government edict.
“God gave you an immune system to kill the virus,” Spell said while giving his sermon on Sunday morning. “I’m not going to bind the virus.”
Law enforcement is far from happy that Spell refuses to kneel beneath them as they attempt to enforce the governor’s unlawful orders.
“It will not be up to a judge on whether he’s picked up or not, and what his punishment will be,” Baton Rouge Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran said to TMZ.
“It’s a blatant disrespect to the law and to the judge’s order. It’s further proof Tony Spell is out for himself and has no respect for the law,” Corcoran added.
In addition to charges of aggravated assault and improper backing, Spell also faces six misdemeanor charges for disobeying the edicts of Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards.