Puyallup church cancels conservative speaker event, cites potential threats
An East Pierce County church has canceled an event featuring a politically conservative activist after the senior pastor said police warned him groups opposed to the event were targeting the pastor and members of the congregation.
Motion Church’s senior pastor, the Rev. Roger Archer, told The News Tribune the Puyallup Police Department and FBI contacted him about safety concerns over a planned appearance by Charlie Kirk.
The Puyallup Police Department did not return requests for comment from The News Tribune.
Kirk, president of Turning Point USA and host of the radio show “The Charlie Kirk Show,” was scheduled to visit Motion Church on May 2.
In an April 23 letter to the congregation canceling the event, Archer said, “With threatening declarations they vowed to not only burn our properties to the ground but also brought threats of physical violence against our church leadership our neighbors their properties and basically wreak havoc in our community that we love......it is for the safety of my precious city and our church people that we have heartbreakingly canceled our event with Mr. Kirk.”
Archer later gave an interview to The News Tribune.
“This is anarchy rules and terrorists run free of appraisal, and this is leadership we have in our state. We saw it happen on Capitol Hill,” Archer told The News Tribune when talking of the occupation protest in Seattle last summer called “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.” “It’s disappointing that people can’t have a point of view.”
Kirk spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention in support of former President Donald Trump, describing him as the “bodyguard of Western Civilization.”
His nonprofit, Turning Point USA, describes its mission as “to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.”
Kirk has written the books, “The MAGA Doctrine: The Only Ideas That Will Win the Future” (2020) and “Campus Battlefield: How Conservatives can WIN the Battle on Campus and Why it Matters” (2018).
The church’s website said the event was full.
“Charlie is an American conservative activist that stands on Christian values,” the Facebook event said. “As the host of the ‘The Charlie Kirk Show’ and founder and president of Turning Point USA, he serves to create a student movement that is dedicated to identifying, organizing, and empowering young people.”
The News Tribune has not confirmed who has made threats to Motion Church. There was a protest planned to oppose the event.
A group of people opposed to Kirk’s appearance created a Facebook event, “Peaceful demonstration at Motion Church against Charlie Kirk.” The protest was canceled after the organizer, Nicholi Long, told The News Tribune he was worried about the safety of protesters.
“We decided to cancel in the best interest of the community, due to some gestures from local right wing activists,” Long said. “The community worked so hard to make this peaceful.”
Long told The News Tribune there were posts on Facebook and Twitter from people suggesting they would get violent if given the chance. In Facebook comments to Motion Church’s video announcing the cancellation, some people said they would be willing to provide “security” for Kirk’s appearance.
Archer and some on social media have accused the group that planned to protest against Kirk of being “antifa,” which Long said isn’t true.
Long said he and his wife attended the church eight years ago before moving to a new congregation. He doesn’t have an issue with the church but feels Kirk’s views are “bad news.”
“His organization strikes a lot of alarms to a lot of LGBTQ and racial groups,” Long said. “He has been indoctrinating the youth at 2,500 high school and college campuses, and it’s concerning that the church is getting involved in this.”
Motion Church was at the center of previous controversy after 175 COVID-19 compliance complaints were sent to the state. The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries is still considering next steps.
This story was originally published April 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
