PJI is representing On A Mission church in LA county, who held an outdoor gathering on their property in mid-October.
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PJI is representing On A Mission church in LA county, who held an outdoor gathering on their property in mid-October.
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The outdoor fair was a big hit; the approximately 600 people who attended enjoyed themselves and were exposed to Christian love. Masks were worn and social distancing was observed, with only around 200 people on-site at a time.
But that didn’t stop LA County health officials from issuing citations after the fact against the organizers and the church itself; even as county health officials were at the event, having been joined by LA County Sheriffs.
The pastor of On A Mission church, Carlos Robles, said the decision to cite the church event "seems puzzling'' in light of large swap meets and other past events that have drawn large crowds, including political demonstrations that drew thousands of people to the streets of Los Angeles.
"It was a church event on private property. This was a community service where we were talking about Christian education, homeschooling,'' Pastor Robles said. "We exercised our First Amendment rights, and obeyed (county health guidelines) to the best of our ability,'' Robles said.
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"The event was a major success and social distancing was strictly enforced,'' the event organizer said. "There was security at the entrance who were there taking temperatures and providing sanitary information to guests. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department monitored compliance. In my opinion, the social distancing was more enforced than a Costco warehouse store,'' he said. "The so-called peaceful protesting is going on, but it's often not accompanied by mask-wearing or social distancing, and the cities and counties don't seem too concerned about that,'' he said. "We feel that we are obeying the ordinances.''
Brad Dacus, President of the Pacific Justice Institute was at the event and said, “The fact that LA County has explicitly and blatantly allowed for other outdoor gatherings with different perspectives, a leftist perspective, a non-Christian perspective, shows its blatant bigotry and that’s why this and actions like this are unconstitutional and will, in the end, not hold up in a court of law.”
“We at the Pacific Justice Institute are standing behind this church. This is their property. They’re having an outdoor gathering. And the reason they’re being targeted is because of their beliefs and their viewpoint and their perspectives.”
“LA county has shown its bias. If this had been another gathering, a radical group, they allow them to do whatever they want. When it comes to people of faith wishing to gather to express themselves, to commune, then we see bias and unequal treatment under the law. We at the Pacific Justice Institute are committed to defending this church, and every church, who is facing this kind of bigotry by those in public authority.”
Thank you for your consideration of support for PJI. PJI works hardest for our clients and supporters by devoting a higher percentage of every dollar donated to PJI to the work of defending religious liberties, compared to any other major legal defense ministry in the US.
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Running the race,
The PJI Team
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