A pastor has shared a video showing thousands of people attending Sunday service that took place outside the California State Capitol.
After the video went viral, some internet users were quick to slam the gathering during which many didn’t wear face coverings and failed to social distance.
Captioning the footage that made rounds on the internet, Sean Feucht, who is a pastor, politician, and activist, wrote:
“Official Capitol Hill police estimate was 12,000 tonight in Sacramento!!! GOD IS NOT DONE WITH CALIFORNIA!!! #LetUsWorship.”
While the pastor suggested the police estimated some twelve thousand people attended the service, public information officer Jaime Coffee claimed the real number of attendees was around 3,000.
“The majority of the participants gathered on the west steps and failed to socially distance.point 204 |
Prior to the event start, the Capitol Permit Officer indicated those who were showing up at the Capitol were socially distancing.point 109 | Additionally, the permit officer was walking around the crowd verbally reminding people,” Coffee said.point 200 | 1
“Given the large number of people present for this event and the fact that it was a relatively short event the on-scene manager made the decision to let the event continue to conclusion.
“Other factors involved in this decision include factoring in the resources needed to disperse a crowd of this size, safety of the participants, the time it would take, as well as other protest events in the Sacramento area.”
According to the reports, a permit for the gathering had been issued prior to the event. However, as per the guidance, the number of attendees was limited to just 1,000.
Previously, Feucht expressed his opinion on large religious gatherings amid the pandemic as he took to his website to suggest that “powerful politicians and social media giants have engaged in unchartered abuses of religious liberty, silencing the faithful, banning our voices, and outright attacking our God-given right to declare His goodness.point 432 |
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On Facebook, the pastor also claimed that “the freedom to worship God is the constitutional right of every American citizen and those who exercise this right should not be unfairly targeted for criticism.”
Replaced!