Police identified the man who was shot and killed by a security guard after targeting CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan, on Sunday.
Officials named Brian Anthony Browning, 31, from Romulus, Michigan, as the suspected gunman, The Detroit News <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2025/06/23/police-id-suspected-gunman-fatally-shot-at-wayne-church/84315724007/">reported</a>. Browning was the son of a woman who is a member of the church, and he attended two or three services at CrossPointe in the past year. He might have been suffering from a mental health crisis, investigators said, adding that there is no evidence to suggest his alleged actions had any connection with the conflict in the Middle East.
Wayne Police said that the suspect was driving erratically outside the church building before exiting his vehicle and firing his AR-15 style rifle at the church. Browning was also armed with a semi-automatic handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He was reportedly struck by a Ford F-150 driven by a church deacon, giving the security team time to take out the shooter.
Authorities obtained a search warrant for Browning&#8217;s home in Romulus, which is just south of Wayne. At the residence, law enforcement found more rifles, handguns, and ammunition, according to The Detroit News. Browning had no criminal history or previous run-ins with Wayne Police.
Police said that the church&#8217;s security team acted quickly after the gunfire erupted, locking the doors to protect congregants and then engaging with the alleged shooter. One of the security guards was injured after getting shot in the leg. The wounded security guard is in stable condition after undergoing surgery, according to authorities.
&#8220;We are grateful for the heroic actions of the church&#8217;s staff members, who undoubtedly saved many lives and prevented a large-scale mass shooting,&#8221; said Wayne Police Chief Ryan Strong.
Around 150 people, many of them children, were in attendance for the Sunday morning service. CrossPointe was holding a special vacation Bible school service, a summer program many churches put on for young children, when the shooter opened fire.
A livestream video of the service showed the Christian worshipers ducking for cover after a security guard told them to evacuate as shots were fired outside the building.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WATCH: People fleeing at Crosspointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan after shooting. <a href="https://t.co/jJXi1GXeWR">pic.twitter.com/jJXi1GXeWR</a>
— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) <a href="https://twitter.com/AZ_Intel_/status/1936828501694300423?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said on Sunday that the bureau&#8217;s &#8220;leadership and support teams are on the ground, at the scene, in Wayne, Michigan providing assistance and investigative support.&#8221;

Michigan Church Shooting

Police Identify Suspected Gunman In Michigan Church Shooting

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At least 20 Christians were killed and 52 others were wounded on Sunday when a radical Islamic terrorist opened fire in an Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, and then detonated an explosive vest, according to Syria&#8217;s interior ministry.
The terrorist, affiliated with ISIS, targeted Mar Elias Church in Dweila, on the outskirts of Damascus, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c307n9p43z9o">reported</a>. A person who witnessed the attack told AFP news agency that &#8220;someone entered carrying a weapon&#8221; and began firing at worshipers. A group of church members charged the attacker and &#8220;tried to stop him before he blew himself up,&#8221; the witness added.
Graphic footage of the aftermath of the bombing captured by the Syrian Civil Defence showed bloody bodies on the ground and rows of pews blown to pieces. Some local media reports said that children were among those killed in the terrorist attack, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suicide-bomber-syria-church-dweila/">CBS News</a>.
Issam Nasr, a man who was at the church during the attack, said that he saw people &#8220;blown to bits.&#8221;
&#8220;We have never held a knife in our lives. All we ever carried were our prayers,&#8221; Nasr said.
The bombing marks the first successful jihadist attack on a Christian church in Syria since Bashar al-Assad and his government were toppled by Islamic extremists in December, according to Reuters. The Islamic State was behind multiple other recent attacks on Christian churches in the country, but none were successful.
Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is part of a Sunni Islamist group that has ties to al-Qaeda, has repeatedly vowed to protect religious minorities in the country, but violence against Christians continues. There are over 500,000 Christians in Syria, and they are regularly the victims of government oppression and Islamic extremism, according to <a href="https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/syria/">Open Doors</a>, which ranks the country at 18th on the list of countries where Christians face the most persecution.

Deadly Blast Kills At Least 20 At Church In Damascus

Jihadist Suicide Bomber Kills 20, Wounds Dozens More At Orthodox Church

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A shooter was shot and killed by a security guard after opening fire at a church in Wayne, Michigan, while worshipers were gathered for a service on Sunday.
The assailant was stopped before he could make it inside CrossPointe Community Church when one of the church&#8217;s deacons hit him with his Ford F-150, giving the security guard time to shoot the attacker, according to Senior Pastor Bobby Kelly Jr., The Detroit News <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2025/06/22/security-guard-kills-active-shooter-at-crosspointe-church-wayne-police-say/84307435007/">reported</a>. The security guard was also wounded in the shooting after taking a bullet to the leg, but no one else was injured.
There were around 150 people in attendance when the shooter targeted the church, which is located around 25 miles west of Detroit. A livestream video of the service showed the Christian worshipers, many of whom were children, ducking for cover after a security guard told them to evacuate as shots were fired outside the building. CrossPointe was holding a special vacation Bible school service, a summer program many churches put on for young children. While the shooter was stopped from making it inside the church, he fired multiple shots into the building.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH: People fleeing at Crosspointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan after shooting. <a href="https://t.co/jJXi1GXeWR">pic.twitter.com/jJXi1GXeWR</a>
&mdash; AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) <a href="https://twitter.com/AZ_Intel_/status/1936828501694300423?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
According to Wayne Police Deputy Chief Finley Carter, the shooter was a 31-year-old man. Kelly said that the man did not appear to be a member of the church.
Local, state, and federal authorities are on the ground investigating the shooting. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino <a href="https://x.com/FBIDDBongino/status/1936841401464947034">wrote</a> on X, &#8220;Our leadership and support teams are on the ground, at the scene, in Wayne, Michigan providing assistance and investigative support.&#8221;
Kelly said that the church started a security team around 10 years ago in response to threats to churches across the country, according to The Detroit News. The pastor added that before Sunday, CrossPointe had not received any threats of violence.
&#8220;We are sitting ducks to someone who wants to come and do harm,&#8221; he said.

Michigan church shooting

TRAGEDY AVERTED: Shooter Targeting Michigan Church Taken Out By Security Guard

In stark contrast to the battle cries of antisemites, and now the loud chorus of pundits defending Iran and its terror network, our message as Christians is this: preserve Israel and all she defends. As friends of Israel — of freedom, democracy, human rights, holy and ancient tradition — our prayers in her defense must overwhelm the rockets aimed at her annihilation.
Right now, Israel’s enemies are loud. So her friends need to be louder. Because once again, Israel stands on the verge of destruction.
The Iranian regime has openly and repeatedly vowed to annihilate the State of Israel. Since the October 7 terror attacks, Iran-backed terrorists have wrought havoc, ruining their own country, Yemen, and others, while targeting Israeli civilians from afar. When their terrorist friends again launched dozens of rockets at Israel recently, with <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/houthi-missile-strikes-near-israeli-airport-after-evading-missile-defenses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one landing at Ben Gurion Airport</a>, at least eight individuals were seriously wounded. Over the weekend, Iran launched more missiles at Israel — and not at military targets, but as is typical for Iran, at innocent civilians and young children.
And now, Iran has reached the brink of producing nuclear weapons. This is not a theory. This is a very real, existential threat.
We must say it clearly: there will be no second Holocaust. No more helplessness. No more October 7 massacres.
With Iran as unhinged as ever before, the State of Israel was reborn for such a time as this — to be a refuge, a free nation with the ability to protect and defend the Jewish people. Israel has the moral and sovereign right to defend itself against those who seek its destruction.
We must stand in solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters — not only because of shared values, but because of a shared God who calls us to be a light in the darkness. I am incredibly thankful for leaders like President Trump, who have stood firmly with Israel in its time of need. This is beyond politics and policies; this is about moral clarity. As followers of Christ, we are called to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, to stand against injustice, and to take action, proving that when we say, “Never again,” we mean it.
Our congregation and global partners have chosen to support the people of Israel by investing in the Northern Galilee Emergency Hospital, by donating to the construction of 800 safe houses throughout the Eshkol region, and by building other bomb shelters, civil defense centers, and psychological treatment centers throughout the country. But if you cannot donate funds, donate your voice to amplify our message of peace.
This is also a pivotal moment for Iran, particularly Iranian Christians. The global church must lift them up in prayer and find ways to support them right now. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of the tyranny and violence they have faced in their own country. We pray that the freedom to preach the Gospel there will finally be possible and that Christians can practice their faith within Iran without fear.
As Christians, Scripture guides us more than any fleeting opinion of man. In Genesis 12:3, we read this about the historic nation of Israel: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
So, our mandate is clear, and we must state it clearly: We will always stand side by side with our Jewish brothers and sisters, and we will always have their backs.
* * *
Pastor Jentezen Franklin is the senior pastor of Free Chapel and was recently appointed to President Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/05/president-donald-trump-names-advisory-board-members-to-the-religious-liverty-commission/">Religious Liberty Commission</a>. Each week, his television program, Kingdom Connection, is broadcast on major networks all over the world. He is also a New York Times best-selling author of several books.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT

The Choice Is Crystal Clear: Christians Must Defend Israel As She Confronts Evil

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Jihadists massacred around 200 Christians in Nigeria last week after storming a predominantly Catholic farming community and setting fire to homes, according to multiple reports.
Last Friday and Saturday, Fulani Jihadist herdsmen targeted the Christians in Yelwata, in Nigeria’s Benue State, according to Catholic news outlet, <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-africa/2025/06/latest-attack-reportedly-kills-nearly-200-people-in-nigeria">Crux</a>. The militants attempted to storm St. Joseph’s Church in Yelwata, which was housing families who had been displaced by previous Fulani Jihadist attacks in other areas, but were repelled by police, according to another report from <a href="https://www.churchinneed.org/nigeria-up-to-200-dead-in-worst-killing-spree/">Church in Need</a>. The militants then attacked the town square, setting fire to buildings and killing people while yelling &#8220;Allahu Akbar.&#8221;
According to eyewitnesses on the ground in the Nigerian community, the Jihadists &#8220;surrounded Yelwata &#8230; and began slaughtering people—mostly women, children, and displaced families who thought they had found safety here.”
“We’re still finding bodies in the bushes,” <a href="https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/fulani-jihadists-massacre-over-200-christians-in-nigeria">said</a> local youth leader Mton Matthias. “The death toll is rising every hour.”
Pope Leo addressed the &#8220;terrible massacre&#8221; on Sunday when he said Christians &#8220;were killed with extreme cruelty, most of whom were internally displaced persons hosted by the local Catholic mission.&#8221;
&#8220;I pray that security, justice, and peace will prevail in Nigeria, a beloved country so affected by various forms of violence,&#8221; Pope Leo said before he delivered the Sunday Angelus prayer, Vatican News reported. &#8220;And I pray in a special way for the rural Christian communities in Benue State who have been unceasingly the victims of violence.&#8221;
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Pope Leo prays for the victims of a “terrible massacre” in Benue State, Nigeria.
Around 200 people were “brutally killed” in Yelwata, in the Guma Local Government Area on the night of the 13th/14th June, the Pope said, most of them internally displaced persons “sheltered by the… <a href="https://t.co/gOZw8Ny0L2">pic.twitter.com/gOZw8Ny0L2</a>
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/VaticanNews/status/1934238312937537896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The violence against Christians in Nigeria is not new, but last week&#8217;s massacre marks the deadliest atrocity committed against Christians in the country in recent years, according to Church in Need. Fulani herdsman, made up of Muslims, regularly threaten farming communities, made up mostly of Christians, in Benue State. Between 2023 and 2025, more than 1,000 people have been killed as the Jihadists have clashed with farmers and Nigeria&#8217;s security forces, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyznnl4mddo">reported</a>.
According to Rev. Fr. Remigius Ihyula — director of the Justice, Peace and Development Foundation (JPDF) — the violence against Christians is part of an effort to clear the land of the Christian inhabitants.
“These Fulani militias are not just killing—they’re clearing land to claim it,” he <a href="https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/fulani-jihadists-massacre-over-200-christians-in-nigeria">said</a>. “And they’re being allowed to do it.”
The Nigerian government, led by Muslims, has been accused of looking the other way while radical Muslims attack and kill Christians.
“The credible evidence of who [the attackers] are is undeniable, so why is the government helpless in securing the safety of its citizens?&#8221; asked Father Moses Aondover Iorapuu, a Parish priest in Makurdi, Nigeria.

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‘Terrible Massacre’: Hundreds Of Christians Killed By Jihadists

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Gender ideology’s war on America’s children has turned its guns on a particularly vulnerable group: children in foster care. Despite a court ruling <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/25/paxton-biden-lgbtq-foster-youth/">blocking</a> a Biden-era rule that imposed gender ideology as a condition of serving children who identify as LGBTQ, several states now <a href="https://lambdalegal.org/child-welfare-map/">demand</a> that prospective foster parents affirm the &#8220;gender identity&#8221; of hypothetical children they might foster one day. Vermont has taken this egregious stance even further, telling one Christian family that they presented too much of a risk, that they would raise children sharing their beliefs.
Decenda and Frank Cram were “blindsided” when Vermont state officials denied their application to become foster parents because of their “belief system.” State officials added that “if children in their home are raised with the same beliefs it could perpetuate further discrimination of the LGBTQ community.”
Two other Christian families – the Wuotis and the Gannts – also failed Vermont’s ideological litmus test and so were denied the chance to foster. Represented by <a href="https://adflegal.org/">Alliance Defending Freedom</a>, they are <a href="https://adflegal.org/article/vermont-imposes-gender-ideology-litmus-test-foster-parents/">pushing back</a>. Their case is currently under review by a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit court of appeals. The Crams <a href="https://conscience-project.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/CP-Amicus-Brief-06.06-.pdf">shared their experience</a> as friends of the court in support of the families.
Decenda Cram, like many foster parents, was a foster child herself, entering care when she was only six years old. Her first foster parents were devout Christians and eventually adopted her. “I think ever since then,” she says, “I just thought someday I wanted to give back &#8230; I definitely wanted to return the favor in some way.”
Frank credits Christian neighbors for helping him turn around his own life. “If it wasn&#8217;t for a Christian family back when I was out in Arizona, I probably would&#8217;ve been getting in more and more trouble,” he explains.
The Crams, both devout Christians, hoped, in Frank’s words, to offer needy children “a home, unconditional love, understanding – the whole nine yards.” In October 2020 the couple applied to be foster parents. Decenda recalls that “we made it clear that we were Christians, and we asked if that was going to pose a problem with foster parenting. And we were reassured by a higher up in the state’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCF): ‘We don&#8217;t discriminate against anyone for any reason.’”
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Although they had not completed the licensing process, Decenda and Frank were called to take in a pair of sibling girls, ages nine and fourteen, in December 2020. The girls stayed with the Crams for a month and a half before one of the girls’ relatives assumed custody. We “worked out very well as a team in taking care of them,” says Frank. Decenda agrees, adding that “Frank and I worked beautifully as a parenting team.” Their initial DCF worker and the relative that the girls moved in with when they left us “all commended us for doing such a good job with the girls.”
<div id="attachment_931921" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-931921" class="size-large wp-image-931921" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-1024x576.jpg" alt="Nicholas Klein. Getty Images." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-300x168.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-768x431.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-2048x1150.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Nicholas Klein. Getty Images.</div>
Given their success caring for the two sisters, the Crams thought they would be licensed as foster parents. They were surprised when the licensing process turned hostile.
Decenda recalls a different official telling her during a phone interview that “Vermont has recently taken a stance.” This “stance” is that no foster families can be considered unless they are willing to fully embrace the LGBTQ community. Despite the clear desire and ability to provide a safe, loving home for children in need, the Crams were denied a license to foster.
According to the denial letter sent to the Crams in June 2021, the Cram’s “fundamental belief&#8221; about &#8220;God&#8217;s plan for all of us,” would “not meet the emotional or developmental needs of children.”
“It felt like I&#8217;d lost a child,” laments Decenda. Frank says that “It really broke my heart. It&#8217;s like, here we are. We&#8217;re willing to give our home and our time and effort to help these children.”
Vermont’s behavior is inexcusable: its exclusion of prospective foster and adoptive parents based on their sincerely held religious beliefs is blatant religious discrimination and adds to the injury already suffered by children in need.
The Crams are hopeful that the Second Circuit will order Vermont to stop its discriminatory policy so they can open up their home to children in need. As Frank says, “all things can work out by God&#8217;s grace.”
* * *
Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is Director of <a href="https://conscience-project.org/">The Conscience Project</a> 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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Christians Need Not Apply To Foster In This State

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As a Coptic Christian born in Egypt and as a person who spent years in academia — including earning a Ph.D. from Emory University in Atlanta studying radical Islamic movements — I speak with authority when I warn against the menace of Islamism, which is overwhelmingly invading the West.
For decades, I’ve warned that this ideology is not just incompatible with Western civilization; it rejects coexistence entirely, seeking takeover. Now, Islamists have formed an unholy alliance with Marxists — two groups who would normally be at each other’s throats, yet now are uniting throughout Europe and North America for the purpose of wreaking havoc on the West. Their ultimate purpose is to build a seventh-century Arabian desert Utopia out of the wreckage of Western civilization.
Crimes against Jewish Americans continue to make headlines, from the killing of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senator-demands-feds-investigate-israel-embassy-shooting-as-domestic-terrorism?author=Nathan+Gay&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Senator+Demands+Feds+Investigate+Israel+Embassy+Shooting+As+Domestic+Terrorism">young couple</a> in Washington D.C. to the blatant antisemitic attack by an illegal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colorado-hits-egyptian-anti-israel-terror-suspect-with-charges-including-murder?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=51&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Colorado+Hits+Egyptian+Anti-Israel+Terror+Suspect+With+Charges+Including+Murder">Egyptian migrant</a> in Boulder, Colorado. The Jews, however, are the canaries in the coal mine. The larger target, where the sights of radical Islamists are locked, is Western civilization.
These incidents are not isolated; they’re harbingers of chaos fueled by open borders and judicial obstruction. Christians and moral people everywhere must wake up, discern the truth, and reclaim our culture before it’s lost. We must share Christ’s gospel boldly. Make no mistake about it: Even if Westerners themselves aren’t aware of it, Western civilization is the byproduct of the Christian reformation of the 14th century.
Radical Islam’s goal is clear: not compatibility, but a global caliphate. In &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1496431502/?bestFormat=true&amp;k=the%20third%20jihad%20by%20michael%20youssef&amp;ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-pd-bk-d_de_k0_1_16&amp;crid=385NJPDUXR79B&amp;sprefix=the%20third%20jihad%20">The Third Jihad,&#8221;</a> I explain how a holy war is underway, not only with terror but by stealth, with some even aiming to impose an Islamic State of North America by 2050. This “third jihad,” unlike the sword-driven first jihad (622–751) or second jihad (1302–1922), uses our freedoms — migration, legal systems, cultural sway — to infiltrate and dominate. The Quran’s call to “hijrah” (jihad by migration) urges Muslims to spread Islam, viewing relocation as sacred. In Europe, chants of “Allah give victory to Islam everywhere” accompany unassimilated enclaves. France’s nine million Muslims, with birthrates outpacing natives ten to one, are building mosques and shifting culture, often rejecting Western values. Britain’s Sharia councils erode sovereignty, operating as parallel legal systems. This isn’t integration; it’s conquest.
Violence isn’t the only threat. We now face cultural erosion. Radical Islamists exploit our systems. In &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Enemy-Aggressive-Secularism-Radical/dp/1496431456/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0">The Hidden Enemy</a>,&#8221; I noted, “The enemy without [radical Islam] seeks a caliphate; the enemy within [secular leftists] erases Judeo-Christian values.” Their alliance is stark: leftists, rejecting biblical truth, defend Sharia advocates like Linda Sarsour, who co-led the 2017 Women’s March alongside abortion and LGBTQ champions. Political correctness brands critics “Islamophobic,” shielding this pact. Secularism’s spiritual vacuum — evident since Jesse Jackson’s 1987 chant, “Western Civ has got to go!” — invites Islamists to fill the void, using welfare, courts, and media to advance their agenda. As Christianity fades, with Europe’s churches now museums, radical Islam sees our culture as “overripe fruit,” ripe for conquest. 
Recent events underscore the stakes. January 2025’s ISIS-inspired <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-agent-in-charge-who-said-new-orleans-attack-was-not-a-terrorist-event-reportedly-reassigned?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=FBI+Agent+In+Charge+Who+Said+New+Orleans+Attack+Was+%E2%80%98Not+A+Terrorist+Event%E2%80%99+Reportedly+Reassigned">New Orleans attack</a>, killing 14, exposed our vulnerability. In Cyprus, recent protests <a href="https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/05/03/turkish-cypriots-protest-over-what-they-say-is-turkeys-introduction-of-islam-into-educatio">accused Turkey</a> of imposing political Islam, eroding secular roots — a warning for the West. X posts amplify these concerns, decrying Sharia’s quiet spread. Pacifying radicals, as we did before the Taliban’s 2021 victory, breeds extremism. Historically, Christians stopped Islamic conquests at Tours (732) and Vienna (1683). Today’s fight is spiritual and cultural, yet many Christians stay silent, cowed by “tolerance.” As I have stated before, this deception is “from the pit of hell.” Excusing non-assimilation or Sharia zones surrenders our heritage. 
The open <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/border-crisis">border crisis</a> amplifies this. Over four years, lax policies and judicial blocks have imported chaos. The Boulder attacker, an illegal migrant, embodies the risk: unchecked entry brings ideologies that fuel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colorado-hits-egyptian-anti-israel-terror-suspect-with-charges-including-murder?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=19&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Colorado+Hits+Egyptian+Anti-Israel+Terror+Suspect+With+Charges+Including+Murder">antisemitism and violence</a>. If we don’t enforce borders, we’ll see more D.C. and Boulder tragedies. Radical Islam isn’t here to blend in — it’s here to dominate, as my decades studying its trappings confirm. 
So, what must Christians do? First, go to God’s Word, not headlines. Second, evangelize boldly. Understand the darkness of radical Islam, but love Muslim people. The gospel is our power, so we must find the courage to share Christ with Muslim neighbors. Third, fortify churches. Pastors must preach unapologetically, equipping believers to counter secularism and Islamism. Congregations should disciple families, mentor youth, and pray for God to move. 
The stakes are eternal. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus warned of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Radical Islam cloaks its takeover in tolerance, but its aim is a caliphate, not coexistence. Antisemitism will surge as unvetted migration grows. Yet hope endures. The early church faced Rome and won souls through love. We can, too. Christians, rise up. Share the gospel, love Muslims, defend our faith, and demand secure borders. Radical Islam banks on our silence — let’s prove them wrong.
 * * * 
Michael A. Youssef, Ph.D., born in Egypt, is senior pastor of Church of The Apostles in Atlanta and founder of the radio broadcast &#8220;Leading The Way,&#8221; reaching 190 countries. With degrees from Moore College, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Emory University, he’s authored over 50 books, including &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1496431502/?bestFormat=true&amp;k=the%20third%20jihad%20by%20michael%20youssef&amp;ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-pd-bk-d_de_k0_1_16&amp;crid=385NJPDUXR79B&amp;sprefix=the%20third%20jihad%20">The Third Jihad</a>.&#8221; He’s appeared on Fox News, CBN, and in The Wall Street Journal. His new book, &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Final-Call-Revelation-Ultimate/dp/1496486374/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=GjEWG&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.0fb2cce1-1ca4-439a-844b-8ad0b1fb77f7&amp;pf_rd_p=0fb2cce1-1ca4-439a-844b-8ad0b1fb77f7&amp;pf_rd_r=133-8344803-2786917&amp;pd_rd_wg=m8gZy&amp;pd_rd_r=251a523a-31f1-47f0-9867-3168baa1d786&amp;ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">God’s Final Call: How the Book of Revelation Pulls Back the Veil on Current Events and Our Ultimate Future</a>&#8221; (Tyndale, March 2025), recently released.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Islamic moon – the sign on the mosque

‘Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing’: Why Christians Must Wake Up To The Threat Of Radical Islam

'Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing': Why Christians Must Wake Up To The Threat Of Radical Islam

Anti-Semitism

antisemitism

Books

Islam

Western Civilization

Seattle street view

The LGBT Mob Just Attacked Christians In Seattle With No Repercussions

Antifa

Leftists

LGBT

Matt Walsh

Seattle

After leftist radicals — some clothed in black and wearing masks — attacked a Christian rally in Seattle on Saturday, Mayor Bruce Harrell issued a statement in which he condemned the Christian organizers of the event.
The rally in Cal Anderson Park, described by Harrell as &#8220;Seattle&#8217;s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood,&#8221; prompted the arrest of at least 22 people, Fox 13 <a href="https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/mayor-harrell-far-right-rally" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, which added, “Mayor Harrell is now directing the Parks Department to review the circumstances of the rally organizer&#8217;s application.” Mayday USA, the rally&#8217;s organizer, is <a href="https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/protests-bruce-harrell">reportedly</a> described as &#8220;a faith-based activist group that calls on Christians to speak out against abortion, child trafficking and the perceived moral decline of society.&#8221;
In the wake of Saturday&#8217;s altercation, Harrell released the following <a href="https://harrell.seattle.gov/2025/05/24/mayor-harrell-statement-on-extreme-right-wing-rally-at-cal-anderson-park/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>, in which he called the service a “far-right rally” and declared there was an “extreme right-wing national effort to attack our trans and LGBTQ+ communities”:
<blockquote>
Seattle is proud of our reputation as a welcoming, inclusive city for LGBTQ+ communities, and we stand with our trans neighbors when they face bigotry and injustice. Today’s far-right rally was held here for this very reason – to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values, in the heart of Seattle’s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood.
When the humanity of trans people and those who have been historically marginalized is questioned, we triumph by demonstrating our values through our words and peaceful protest – we lose our voice when this is disrupted by violence, chaos, and confusion.
Anarchists infiltrated the counter-protestors group and inspired violence, prompting SPD to make arrests and ask organizers to shut down the event early, which they did.
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. The Police Department will complete an after-action report of this event, including understanding preparation, crowd management tactics, and review of arrests and citations.
I am grateful for those who make their voices heard in support of our neighbors without resorting to violence. In the face of an extreme right-wing national effort to attack our trans and LGBTQ+ communities, Seattle will continue to stand unwavering in our embrace of diversity, love for our neighbors, and commitment to justice and fairness.
</blockquote>
One of the participants in the rally, Russell Johnson, the lead pastor at Pursuit NW, wrote on X that Harrell had claimed he was targeted because he was biracial, noting:
<blockquote>
The @MayorofSeattle tries to reach out to me via back channels. I told his folks… i’m happy to talk after he apologizes and retracts his bigoted statements about people of faith. **crickets** Now he releases a statement saying he is being “intimidated” because he is biracial. That’s how you know we are winning. That’s how you know his resignation is impending.  News Flash  @MayorofSeattle: you attacked us in public and you will be held to account in public.  If you want to talk, me and 1000 others will be on your doorstep Tuesday at 5PM.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorofSeattle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MayorofSeattle</a> tries to reach out to me via back channels. I told his folks… i’m happy to talk after he apologizes and retracts his bigoted statements about people of faith.
**crickets**
Now he releases a statement saying he is being “intimidated” because he is biracial.… <a href="https://t.co/A9Vyqzun5y">pic.twitter.com/A9Vyqzun5y</a>
&mdash; Russell Johnson (@russellbjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/russellbjohnson/status/1927192481898115535?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The legal group Alliance Defending Freedom is considering getting involved:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Alliance Defending Freedom is evaluating legal action against <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorofSeattle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MayorofSeattle</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/CityofSeattle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CityofSeattle</a> officials following the violent disruption of the MayDay USA worship event. 
Federal and state laws protect free speech and religious freedom for all, regardless of their views.…
&mdash; Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) <a href="https://twitter.com/ADFLegal/status/1927185730754720130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Johnson also released an announcement of the planned Tuesday rally:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: <a href="https://t.co/K8ThKOCxMy">pic.twitter.com/K8ThKOCxMy</a>
&mdash; Russell Johnson (@russellbjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/russellbjohnson/status/1927101796561879550?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Hip Hop Climate Conference

Seattle Mayor Rips Christians After They Are Attacked By Leftists At Rally

Rally

Social Issues

U.S.

Washington

Amid all the talk about tariffs with China, and how they steal America&#8217;s intellectual property and establish all kinds of trade barriers with this country, you might have missed this story. It&#8217;s not about economics, but at the same time, it tells you a lot about what authoritarian countries like China fear the most.
Beginning on May 1, China will accelerate its crackdown on religion, and Christianity in particular. Foreign missionaries will be banned from preaching unless they obtain formal approval from the government.
According to Chinese <a href="https://www.persecution.org/2025/04/04/china-moves-to-formally-ban-missionary-activity/">state media</a>, the goal of the new regulation is to protect &#8220;national security&#8221; and &#8220;political stability&#8221; by forcing people to attend official, state-run religious services with pre-approved messaging. Additionally, Chinese state media has recently boasted about the fact that religious groups — which the government calls &#8220;cult organizations&#8221; — have been increasingly shut down in China. At this point, one of the fastest ways to disappear in China is to deliver a sermon that upsets the ruling party.
Of course, this is the exact opposite of the result we were promised when the United States normalized free trade with China several decades ago. As Bill Clinton put it, “Membership in the W.T.O. will not create a free society in China overnight or guarantee that China will play by global rules. &#8230; But over time, I believe it will move China faster and further in the right direction.”
That hasn&#8217;t happened. Instead, China is now aggressively moving to crush Christians, for the simple reason that Christians believe in a higher power than their government. We have not introduced Western norms to China. We have not exported our values to them. Instead, despite the promises of free trade, China has successfully exported its totalitarian impulses to the West. One by one, Western countries are adopting anti-Christian crackdowns, to the point that they&#8217;re making it illegal for Christians to practice their faith.
What&#8217;s happening right now in New South Wales, which is a state on the east coast of Australia, makes this very clear. Earlier this month, something called the &#8220;Conversion Practices Ban Act of 2024&#8221; became law in New South Wales. This law, by its own terms, allows the authorities to arrest Christians for praying. That is not an exaggeration or an overstatement. It&#8217;s actually <a href="https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-2024-019">written</a> into the legislation. From <a href="https://antidiscrimination.nsw.gov.au/discrimination/conversion-practices/frequently-asked-questions.html#What4">the government</a> of New South Wales: &#8220;Praying with or over a person with the intent to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity is unlawful. It is unlawful even if that person has asked you to pray for them to be able to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity.&#8221;
This again is in Australia, a western nation. Not China. Praying with someone who wants you to pray with them could land you in jail. That&#8217;s happening right now, in a supposed western democracy.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mws-ep-1573-member-exclusive?elementPosition=2&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
In other words, if someone wants to pray to God so that he can overcome his gender dysphoria — a condition that, by definition, causes significant mental distress — then his pastor cannot pray with him. In fact, his own family members cannot pray with him. If the police discover that any unapproved prayers have been occurring, they can kick down the doors of the church, or the family home, and haul away the violators. And then they&#8217;ll spend up to five years in prison for their crimes against the state: The crime of praying.
Just to emphasize this point, the government of New South Wales published the single most Orwellian video you&#8217;ll ever see. No matter how many times you&#8217;ve heard the word &#8220;Orwellian,&#8221; believe me, this qualifies. This is the government&#8217;s attempt to intimidate the millions of people who live in New South Wales, with their new law that bans prayer. 
Here&#8217;s how the video begins:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 prayer can be deeply harmful" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L09nr4CszAY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
First of all, by the terms of this legislation, every single gender activist in Australia is a criminal. They all believe, without exception, that you can choose to be &#8220;LGBTQA&#8221; (which is apparently the acronym now). There&#8217;s no other way to explain people who ping-pong between genders at will, or people who de-transition. In fact the concept of “fluidity” is now dogma in the LGBT religion. Fluidity — sexual fluidity, gender fluidity — means that you can change at will from one sexuality or gender to another. If someone identifies as a Bi-gender Toasterkin, and then a few weeks later decides he&#8217;s really a Demi-gender, half-humanoid alpaca, or whatever, then at some point, we can conclude that this person made a choice to identify in some arbitrary way. And every step of the way, gender activists — according to the tenets of their ideology — have no choice but to affirm everything. This is one of the reasons trans activists keep losing in court, by the way. They have to admit that, under their logic, so-called &#8220;Trans people&#8221; can choose, at any time, to be trans or not trans. And therefore, because &#8220;trans status&#8221; is malleable — again, malleable by definition, by THEIR definition —  they&#8217;re not entitled to civil rights protections, which only apply to immutable, unchanging traits.
As the video continues, things become even more dystopian.
There&#8217;s this line for example: &#8220;All people should feel welcome and valued and be able to live authentically and with PRIDE.&#8221; 
Yes, all people — every single one of them — should feel welcome and valued. They should all be able to &#8220;live authentically.&#8221; But this promise apparently does not apply to Christians who believe (as all of humanity did until 15 minutes ago) that men are men and women are women. Those Christians do not have the right to live authentically or &#8220;feel welcomed.&#8221; Instead, they can go straight to prison. Here&#8217;s more of the video, because again, as it goes along, things get worse and worse:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 introducing law" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/INw4m7qR-CI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This is where they casually establish that &#8220;family members&#8221; — including a mother and father — can be incarcerated if they don&#8217;t affirm their child&#8217;s imagined gender identity. And of course they do it with a sing-songy, HR lady reading the voiceover. Scratch an HR lady and you will find a power-mad despot, every single time.
We&#8217;ve <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/conversion-therapy-bans-are-an-outrageous-attack-on-free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">talked</a> about so-called &#8220;conversion therapy&#8221; before, and how efforts to ban the practice are both unconstitutional and incoherent. In this country, the Supreme Court is about to hear a case concerning whether Colorado&#8217;s ban on conversion therapy violates the First Amendment. The problem is that bans on &#8220;conversion therapy,&#8221; in every case, are premised on the idea that sexual orientation cannot be changed. But in the same breath, the government of New South Wales will tell you that sex is extremely changeable. In fact, you can go to the doctor and change it tomorrow. See the problem? If you&#8217;re changing your sex, then you&#8217;re also changing your sexual orientation, under their logic. A man who supposedly &#8220;becomes&#8221; a woman, but retains his attraction to men, would become a lesbian, in their view. This is the logical problem with these conversion therapy bans that they simply have no answer for. It&#8217;s like dividing by zero. 
But now they&#8217;re using this phony logic to justify throwing parents and priests in prison. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="003 report , can lead to prison" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cq0cqMeI-IY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The scope of this law is so broad that you could probably claim I&#8217;m violating it, if my show is broadcast in New South Wales. They want Australians to snitch on each other if they get a whiff of anyone who dares to suggest that gender ideology isn&#8217;t real. In a lot of ways, it&#8217;s like the COVID lockdowns all over again. You might remember that, at the height of the &#8220;pandemic,&#8221; there was a nationwide manhunt in Australia when some guy sneezed in an empty elevator without a mask on. Now they&#8217;re going to have manhunts over unauthorized prayers.
If you don&#8217;t believe that, consider what just happened a few weeks ago to Billboard Chris. He was peacefully standing in a market in Brisbane, wearing a sign that expressed his opposition to the castration of children in the name of gender ideology. He only spoke to people who spoke to him first. He didn&#8217;t obstruct anyone&#8217;s movement or anything like that. People were walking around him the whole time. There&#8217;s no dispute about any of this; it&#8217;s all on video. Nevertheless, Brisbane police arrested Billboard Chris, on camera. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="004 billboard chris" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MUv1IlzyT-M?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
They arrested him for standing in a public place with a sign. There&#8217;s no doubt that, if the sign had been pro-gay marriage or whatever, then none of this would have happened. If you watch the full video, the police can&#8217;t name a single other instance where they&#8217;ve jailed someone for peacefully protesting at that location. But Billboard Chris blasphemed Australia&#8217;s state religion, so they took him away in handcuffs. And now they&#8217;re planning to do the same thing to the clergy.
The other day, an Australian commentator named Evelyn Rae outlined exactly what&#8217;s happening here. Here was her assessment, which is worth playing — not only because she&#8217;s right, but also because it&#8217;s good to know that Australia hasn&#8217;t been completely captured yet. Here it is:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="005 Evelyn Rae On China" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2--leJmbBx4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Everything Evelyn Rae just said also applies to many other countries. This is not a problem that&#8217;s limited to Australia. 
Here&#8217;s a <a href="https://reason.com/2024/10/17/british-man-convicted-of-criminal-charges-for-praying-silently-near-abortion-clinic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report from Reason</a> late last year, for example. This is the kind of story that JD Vance mentioned in his recent address to European leaders.
<blockquote>A British man was convicted of criminal charges for praying silently near an abortion clinic. The man, Adam Smith-Connor, did not attempt to harass, intimidate, or interact in any way with those entering the clinic. Instead, he wordlessly prayed with his head bowed slightly. He wasn&#8217;t even on clinic property—he was outside the sightline of the clinic itself. &#8230; As a result, Smith-Connor was questioned by police and later charged with violating a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), a broad censorship order enabled by the 2014 Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act. Under this law, local authorities can obtain special status for some public places, allowing them to ban a huge range of conduct. In the name of limiting &#8216;anti-social behavior.&#8217;</blockquote>
Yes, prayer is considered &#8220;anti-social behavior&#8221; in England. These kinds of arrests are happening because — from Britain to Colorado to Canada to Australia to China — authoritarians in government detest any challenge to their authority. These government officials know that they&#8217;re not impressive people. Australia&#8217;s prime minister has barely held a real job in his life. Most of the country is represented by people like this. They&#8217;re petrified that their subjects might worship someone other than themselves. As a result, they&#8217;re now throwing Christians in prison for practicing their faith. This trend has accelerated in China, and it&#8217;s now spreading throughout the West. Christians are being forcibly silenced, at scale. They are being vilified and incarcerated for what they believe.
I began by saying this isn&#8217;t a monologue about economics or trade wars. That&#8217;s true. But as we consider how we&#8217;ll work with these countries in the future — as we negotiate trade deals and so on — the assaults on Christians simply cannot be ignored. These attacks are as unlawful and immoral as they are systematic. They are becoming a fundamental part of the culture of both our allies and our adversaries. For the benefit of billions of Christians, and to preserve basic constitutional rights like the freedom of speech, this coordinated assault on religion must end before it progresses any further.

Top view of group of people on therapy, praying and counselling concept.

This Might Be The Most Orwellian Law I’ve Ever Heard Of

Australia

China

Conversion Therapy

Gender

Prayer

Sexual Orientation

Transgender

A group of Christians gathered at Israel’s border with Syria in the Golan Heights over the weekend to demand that the European Union, Israel, and the United States protect Christians in Syria.
Shadi Khalloul, who helped organize the gathering, told The Daily Wire that he is concerned about his fellow Arameans Christians just across the border.
“We’ve heard stories of Christians in Syria killed by Jihadists or caught by Jihadists who tried to convert them to Islam by force,” Khalloul said. “One man preferred dying with his faith in Jesus Christ as his savior rather than submitting to Islam.”
Khalloul is part of Israel’s Christian Maronite <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cant-fool-me-arab-israeli-slams-rashida-tlaib-for-lies-about-from-the-river-to-the-sea-chant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aramaic community</a>, which believes it descends from Christ’s earliest followers.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We at ICAA Israeli Christian Aramaic Association NGO rallied today at the Golan Heights at the Syrian &#8211; Israeli border demanding for the defense and protection of Christian and Aramaic communities in Syria. We demand from the USA, EU, and Israel to help our persecuted Christian… <a href="https://t.co/OKG1OhyOOj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/OKG1OhyOOj</a>
— Shadi khalloul שאדי ח&#8217;לול (@shadikhalloul) <a href="https://twitter.com/shadikhalloul/status/1900945124097466422?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
The World Council of Arameans <a href="https://wca-ngo.org/wca-news/press-releases/730-escalating-attacks-on-aramean-christians-in-syria-call-for-urgent-protection" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Johnny Al Sayegh of Al Kharab was shot and killed by a sniper in a town on Syria&#8217;s coast on March 12. His fiancé, Rima Hadad, was severely injured and is in critical condition. Eyewitnesses allege the sniper belonged to Syria’s government security forces.
“The perpetrators must be visibly and swiftly brought to justice to ensure accountability and prevent further violence against Christians, Alawites, and other defenseless civilians,” the council wrote.
In another incident, the council said Elias Michel Asaad, who is also a Christian, was found dead last week after being kidnapped and robbed in Homs.
“His body was laid to rest in his home village of Al-Khansa, in the Valley of the Christians region of Homs Governorate.”
<a href="https://greekcitytimes.com/2025/03/08/syria-turkey-backed-jihadists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to the Greek City Times</a>, some Christians were recently killed, including two Antiochian Greeks, Tony Petrus and his son, Fadi.
In total, the World Council of Arameans claims at least a dozen unarmed Christians have been killed since the militants aligned with Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/syrias-jihadist-president-calls-for-peace-as-his-forces-slaughter-political-and-ethnic-minorities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brutally slaughtered</a> hundreds of Alawite minorities on Syria’s coastal areas earlier this month.
Al-Sharaa called for “national unity and domestic peace” after the attacks and launched a “fact-finding committee” to hold the attackers responsible. Syrian authorities blamed the executions on unruly militias who came to help the security forces who were attacked by militants aligned with deposed former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
In addition to the murders, the World Council of Arameans says Christians have been looted and threatened since the clashes.
“Some of these Jihadis say it clear and loudly to Christians: that your turn will come after the Alawites,” Khalloul, who is the president and founder of the Israeli Christian Aramaic Association, said.
Khalloul said his group is demanding that the Christian and Aramaic communities in Syria be protected from persecution by Al-Sharaa and his aligned militants.
“We demand that the United States, European Union, and Israel help our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters across the border from the Islamic Jihadi regime,” Khaloul said. “We demand that other Christians in free societies help liberate Christian communities in Syria and Lebanon from Islamic Arab radicalism.”
“While here in Israel, we enjoy freedom to act, speak, and demonstrate, the Christians, on the other side, fear for their lives and are threatened to be ethnically cleansed,” Khalloul said. “We will always be a voice to protect our native Aramaic Christian communities in the Middle East.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Christian Israelis gathered at the Syrian border this weekend to call on the world to protect Christians in Syria.
Here’s a Christian Maronite Aramean praying for the safety of his brothers and sisters in Syria. <a href="https://t.co/LfrjjRvmOA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/LfrjjRvmOA</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1902380195782279632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
So far, Israel — which has a sizable Druze community with many members who serve in the Israeli Defense Forces — <a href="https://www.jns.org/idf-prepares-to-defend-druze-suburb-of-damascus-against-syrian-regime/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed to protect</a> the Syrian Druze from any harm and has shipped humanitarian aid to Druze villages.
Khalloul said he believes there should be federal systems in both Syria and Lebanon that allow Christians and other minorities to have autonomy, rather than be under the rule of strong central governments that will oppress indigenous people such as the Druze, Alawites, Arameans, and Kurds.
By fighting to give Christians around the world autonomy, Khalloul said Europe and the United States can help forge a bridge for peace and moderation in a conflict-ridden region.
“Our Native Christian population has been facing persecution, oppression, Islamization and Arabization,” Khalloul said. “We ask to liberate the Christians and stop our people&#8217;s ethnic cleansing immediately.”
In a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-christian-israeli-who-mission-create-first-kassy-dillon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previous interview</a> with The Daily Wire, Khalloul said it is his life mission to preserve his people’s culture while he was in a “Bible as English Literature” class at the University of Nevada. He said that during a class, the professor referred to Aramaic as a “dead” language, to which he responded that he and his family spoke Aramaic and that it was not dead. Since then, Khalloul returned to Israel and has worked to preserve the Aramaic culture and language.
In 2013, he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a meeting he said later led to a 2014 measure that allowed Christians in Israel to register as “Aramean” on their identity card instead of as Arabs.
According to Khalloul, there are 15,000 Israeli Christians praying in Aramaic in Israel, and the majority of them belong to the Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch.

9608c93b-1a77-4f6f-92a9-139cb412d62a

Israeli Christians Call For World Leaders To Protect Syrian Christians

Working in corporate engagement, I often hear questions about why the ‘long game’ matters in changing woke company policies. If executive orders can instantly push companies away from DEI or ESG initiatives, why take other pathways? The answer is clear: lasting change takes time. JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank, just proved this with a major policy shift — one that speaks louder than any theory ever could.
In 2022, JPMorgan Chase <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/03/10/opinion/i-was-debanked-by-jpmorgan-chase-but-fought-back-and-won/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">debanked</a> former U.S. Senator and Ambassador Sam Brownback, after Brownback opened an account for the newly-formed National Committee for Religious Freedom. The son of a Kansas farmer, Brownback refused to back down. When Brownback asked the bank for its rationale in shuttering his account, he was met with conflicting (and incorrect) explanations as to why.
Brownback’s debanking experience was the start of a major wave of scrutiny over exactly what conditions a bank will close a customer’s account. Victims range from nonprofit organizations like Indigenous Advance, an organization serving Ugandan widows &amp; orphans debanked by Bank of America in 2023, to Melania &amp; Barron Trump, who Melania <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-01-24-Letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">described</a> as having been debanked in her memoir, prompting further inquiry from the House Committee on Oversight.
Yet JPMorgan consistently ranked as one of the major bad actors in the debanking saga, closing not only Brownback’s account (and actually <a href="https://www.ag.ky.gov/Press%20Release%20Attachments/23.5.2%20Letter%20to%20Chase.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> for his org’s donor list for restoring service) but several other conservative nonprofits. The biggest bank in America was quickly racking up hits on its record of political neutrality and customer equality.
This trend might have gone unaddressed had the Right simply let the issue lie. Luckily, some of the most influential names in both the conservative legal, financial, and government worlds stepped up to the plate. Pressure for increased transparency and commitments to ditch any policies that could lead to a client being debanked for political reasons has come from all directions, from legal giants like <a href="https://adfmedia.org/press-release/19-states-chase-stop-misleading-customers-commit-equality-treatment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alliance Defending Freedom</a> to <a href="https://www.viewpointdiversityscore.org/news/statement-on-debanking-and-free-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notable financial professionals</a> to <a href="https://www.ag.ky.gov/Press%20Release%20Attachments/23.5.2%20Letter%20to%20Chase.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">state financial officers and attorneys general</a>. As that public pressure mounted, shareholder pressure has been growing from the inside for the past three years, spurred on by organizations like the firm I work for, Bowyer Research, with Chase investors like financial advisor David Bahnsen spending literal years <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/bahnsen-takes-the-fight-today-to-jpmorgan-chase/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urging</a> the company to clarify its approach to debanking — and fix its spotty track record on political neutrality.
And Chase listened.
In 2023, JPMorgan made the decision to axe its “social risk” policy from its payment processing arm, no longer allowing vague terms like “intolerance” and “hate” to determine whether a customer was fit to continue doing business at Chase. But the biggest win so far came several days ago, when Chase agreed to a policy change explicitly protecting customers and employees from discrimination based on religious or political views.
This is huge. Many stories about companies ditching woke policies consist of the company putting out a public statement (and often the controversy that follows). Statements are great, but they’re not the ideal. Companies can hide behind statements — and do. Several companies that have publicly made statements supporting political neutrality clearly have work to do when it comes to actually putting their policies where their mouths are.
But companies can’t hide behind policy changes. That’s why they’re a sign of both real progress and good faith. Shareholders like Bahnsen, and groups like ADF &amp; Bowyer Research, have been engaging with Chase for years to get this change. Make no mistake: Chase’s willingness to protect against future political/religious debanking is the result of real shareholders using real influence to create real change. It’s a victory for Chase’s customers and shareholders, but also for the company itself. It’s a win for a company to clear up concerns about corporate bias, a win that’s been a long time coming, and a win that hopefully many other banks will find instructive.
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Isaac Willour is an award-winning journalist focusing on race, culture, and American conservatism, as well as a corporate relations analyst at Bowyer Research. His work has been featured at outlets including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Opinion, C-SPAN, and The Daily Wire. He is a member of the Young Voices contributor program and can be found on X <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacWillour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@IsaacWillour</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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