FBI Gets Involved After Prominent Seattle Pastor Faces Death Threats for Running a ‘Jew-lover church’
Russell B. Johnson is the lead pastor of The Pursuit NW, a Washington-based multi-site church with locations across Seattle and its suburbs. A dynamic speaker who founded Pursuit in 2014, starting out in a barn with no heat or plumbing, he has grown the ministry into three campuses, two elementary schools, and a soon-to-be-launched ministry college.
Johnson rose to prominence and the public eye in 2020, after he faced legal threats and prosecution for refusing to close his church doors during the ‘pandemic’ or abide by COVID protocols, including threats of 90 days in jail and fines of $10,000 a day.
Earlier this month, his church was thrust into the spotlight after congregation member Christopher “LeBron” Castleberry, 28, was shot outside the church while attending a youth BBQ event with his wife and young son, in a targeted assassination.
On Saturday, September 6, he revealed that he had received credible threats against his life, sharing a statement with his congregation, saying in part:
“(When I first started the church) I made the conscious decision regardless of how big we grow, I would continue to publicly speak out on things that are important to God, important to the Bible, and should be important to us. We’ve taken public stands on behalf of the right to worship, when the government attempted to shut down churches during the COVID era.
We publicly celebrated when Roe v. Wade got overturned as one of the crowning achievements of the pro-life movement. We’ve been unafraid to be politically engaged because I think God cares about nations and governments. I’ve been unashamed to boldly communicate the sexual ethic of scripture and call people to moral fidelity….We’ve pushed back against governmental overreach. We have talked about the holy nature of the nuclear family and the importance of moms and dads in the list. It goes on and on.
But maybe the thing that I’m most proud of recently is that in a place like Seattle, our church has taken an unapologetic stand on behalf of our Jewish brothers and sisters and their right to peacefully exist without terroristic threats from their neighbors or anti-Semitism from their college campus professors.”
Noting that he had shared the stage with noted Israel enthusiast John Hagee and has plans to preach at his church soon, he revealed that as a result of this support for Israel, he has received threats on his life.
“The decision to stand up and speak out has not been without cost. A little over two weeks ago, I started to receive threatening text messages on my phone from an unknown number. And those texts accused me of running a, quote, “Jew-lover church” filled with “race mixing people.” And that I should be very careful in the days ahead.
And although getting threats isn’t anything new, I could tell that this time it was different. I was informed that there was now a quote, “target on my back.” And someday I would “pay the price” and “finally be shut up for good.”
He continues:
“And last Sunday, someone set out to make good on those threats. On the afternoon of Sunday the 24th, the FBI received a phone call on their federal tip line from an individual who made both a credible and detailed death threat against my wife and I. The individual said that they were in the area, that they had a weapon, they knew where we were, they were headed in our direction, they knew my address, the routes that I take, the clothes that I wear.
They had detailed and verified information. Federal agents contacted local law enforcement and local law enforcement proceeded to contact us. Upon receiving this information, Marija, myself and the kids had to immediately evacuate from our house, get somewhere safe and try to figure out a game plan on what to do next. As of today, we are still not back in our home.
I was advised that I shouldn’t preach on this Sunday or in the Sundays that are ahead until the smoke clears, until the perpetrators are caught, until things could be somehow rightly adjusted based on the threat level and the information that law enforcement had received.”
Russell assured the congregation that their church is safe: “To date, there have been no threats against our church, our staff, or our people. Marija and I have been the sole subject of these threats.”
Despite their belief that the church and those attending will be free from harm, they have “taken extraordinary steps this week to exponentially increase the security presence at all Pursuit campuses and Pursuit events,” including “additional officers, increased patrol cars, enhanced security cameras, and improved mechanisms and procedures.”
I want you to hear me loud and clear this morning. Your family will be safe at Pursuit. Your kids will be safe at Pursuit and your friends will be safe at Pursuit”
Russell concluded by promising his congregation that he would not back down and that the threats would not silence him or the work he has done in supporting Israel, saying, “I’m proud to run a Jew Lover Church and I’m proud to be surrounded by race mixing people.”
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