Controversial Arizona pastor Steven Anderson, the firebrand KJV-Onlyist from the 300-member Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, AZ, released bodycam footage this past week from a years-old incident that saw him and his family the victim of a dangerous prank.
The footage shows a swatting incident from 2022, where twice in one week an anonymous caller phoned 911 and claimed there were multiple dead bodies at Anderson’s house, and that he had shot and killed his wife.
AZ Family reported at the time:
(Wife) Zsuzsanna Anderson said it happened Monday afternoon while eight of her children were at the house and her husband was talking on a live podcast downstairs. Her kids were playing outside when they told her a helicopter was flying really close to their yard.
“I’m like, ‘yeah, no worries. I’m sure they’re looking for somebody,’” said Anderson. “Then the helicopter started saying something like surrender and come up with your hands up, and I’m like what? What is he talking about?”
She started recording the chopper but had no clue it was there for her family.
“An officer popped over the wall, and she’s like, ‘mam, I’m going to need you to go outside,” said Anderson. “I’m like, ‘you’re here for me?’ I’m like, ‘no, you have the wrong address.’” When Anderson got to the front of the house, she saw officers lining her street. “When I came to the door, I saw my 13-year-old walking out with her hands up, squad cars in a semi-circle around, doors open, officers there with riffles tried on her.”
She said officers patted her down, finding nothing, and later told her this all started when they got a welfare call for her house.
“The caller escalated and said, ‘oh, now he has a gun. This is Steven Anderson. He’s a pastor, and he’s just shot and killed his wife, and he’s saying he’s doing this in the name of God,’” said Anderson.
In the video, officers can be seen discussing who will “go lethal” while others ask about his identity.
It is unclear if the footage is from the first incident or the second.
Swatting is extremely dangerous and is designed to terrorize its victims, with there being a not insignificant chance that someone could have died as a result. Given that Anderson is a lightning rod for controversy, he has no shortage of haters who may have called it in.
Anderson has the dubious distinction of being banned from 34 countries, including every English-speaking developed country.
You don’t get to say things like “If I had a button right here on this pulpit, I could just push this button and every fag would just fall over dead. I would push it until it breaks,” without raising a few eyebrows.
Recently, he’s been in the public eye after his four oldest children accused him of verbal and physical abuse, resulting in a wild sermon where he prayed God would “destroy” his children.
