Churches Report Chicago Officials are Threatening to Bulldoze Their Facilities for Not Complying with COVID-19 Mandates
BY Herschel Smith
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.
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.
So let’s assume that Justice Kavanaugh does nothing with this (I think that’s a fairly good bet). Then what?
Here’s the best bet (I would actually wager money on it if I was a gambling man, but that runs contrary to my beliefs).
The local police, I assume CPD, will be involved in eviction and the protection of workers while they tear the church building to the ground. I watched some videos taken by Christians in China while the Chinese government razed their buildings to the ground. I assume this will look somewhat like that.
But fear not. Even if your local hardware store has been run out of business in the war on the middle class, you can pack Home Depot and Lowe’s wall to wall with people. So you can spend your Lord’s day sabbath throwing money at lumber and beautification projects with all the other Lemmings.