Tag: religion

Church in China Announces Massive Government Raid, Almost Three Dozen Christians Detained

Early Rain Covenant Church in Sichuan Province, China, announced a massive raid that resulted in almost three dozen of their members being detained.

The church said in a statement published by China Aid that around 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 14, between 60 and 70 government agents disrupted their in-person worship gathering.

SWAT teams, police, local officials, and bureaucrats “stormed the venue and forcibly took control of the gathering.”

Two hours after the raid started, the communist officials started hauling away Christians in groups, with 33 total believers detained.

Most of them were transferred to Jiangyou City’s centralized registration center and detention facility.

Before letting anyone leave — including elderly people and children — police made them agree to sign a “guarantee letter.”

Some of the attendees agreed.

“However, officials refused to disclose the contents of the statement until individuals agreed to sign it. Because most believers refused to sign, they were never shown the document,” the statement said.

“Faced with pressure to sign an unknown statement, the congregation chose to remain peacefully and steadfastly in the hall,” the statement continued.

By the end of the day, between 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., most of the Christians were released from the Jiangyou detention center one at a time.

But Elder Yan Hong and Elder Wu Wuqing remained in custody.

“As the released believers emerged from behind the detention center walls, they gathered closely together, offering prayers of thanksgiving and entrusting one another to God’s care. In the early hours of the morning, they accompanied one another on the journey back to Chengdu,” the church added.

“We thank the Lord for using this trial once again to bear witness to the Christian faith before many who have not yet heard the Gospel. Though the world may regard such experiences as shameful, we count them as an honor and a privilege.”

Early Rain Covenant Church, a Reformed Presbyterian congregation, previously made international headlines after their pastor, Wang Yi, was detained in 2018 and forced to endure a secret trial in 2019.

He remains in prison and is carrying out a nine-year sentence.

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How a Member of a Powerful Utah Family Escaped a Federal Trafficking Investigation and Reinvented Himself as an Instagram Influencer

Former Utah County Attorney David Leavitt has outrun accusations of an illegal adoption and ritualistic child abuse after attorneys within US Homeland Security Investigations shuttered an investigation into his actions.

In an exclusive interview with The Last American Vagabond, a former Homeland Security Investigations analyst reveals how he was targeted by the US government for pursuing an investigation into a powerful Utah politician following a controversial adoption of a Native American baby.

The analyst said that he and his colleague were sidelined after attempting to subpoena the Mormon Church’s internal hotline for reporting sexual abuse as part of their investigation. The federal government would eventually turn its focus to him after he questioned why charges had not been filed, despite an admission of guilt by the suspect.

“They spent $2 million investigating, and they couldn’t even arrest me. They got into my phone, my iCloud, and still couldn’t find anything to arrest me on,” the analyst told The Last American Vagabond (TLAV) over the phone. “This was under Biden… signed off on by Secretary Mayorkas.”

Alejandro Mayorkas served as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under former US President Joe Biden.

The analyst requested anonymity to speak freely on his role in the investigation. TLAV has independently verified the claims made by him.

Ritualistic Child Sexual Abuse

This saga begins with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO) May 31, 2022, announcement that an investigation into “ritualistic child sexual abuse and child sex trafficking” in Utah County had begun in April 2021.

The UCSO statement noted that “multiple county and federal agencies are investigating reports of ritualistic child sexual abuse from as far back as 1990.” The investigation subsequently discovered previous reports alleging “similar forms of ritualistic sexual abuse and trafficking” that occurred in Utah County, Juab County, and Sanpete County during the time between 1990 and 2010.

In September 2022, former therapist David Hamblin was the first suspect to be arrested and charged by the UCSO for multiple first-degree felony sexual offenses against a child. He was booked for three counts of sodomy of a child, one count of rape of a child, two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and one misdemeanor count of lewdness involving a child. His ex-wife, Roselle Stevenson, was later arrested on similar charges.

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Illegal Alien from Guyana Arrested for Firebombing Two New York City Churches – “Yeah, I F**king Firebombed Them!”

A 36-year-old illegal alien was arrested after throwing improvised explosives at two churches in Queens, New York, on Wednesday night.

Yogesh Sayrange is a Guyanese citizen who is considered “unauthorized” in the US because his childhood arrival protection expired.

Surveillance footage from one of the churches shows three individuals outside the Iglesia Bautista El Mesias church when the man, dressed in a dark hoodie and pants, appears to throw a Molotov cocktail at the building.

The three bystanders got back into their car and left the scene as the man walked off in another direction.

A fourth bystander is seen throwing his arms up as he walks by.

Another firebombing occurred at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The suspect, identified as Yogesh Sayrange, is believed by police to be involved in a third incident as well.

Per ABC 7:

The suspect is accused of throwing an incendiary device at the front door of the Iglesia Bautista El Mesias church on 75th Street in Ozone Park just after 11:35 p.m. on Wednesday.

Investigators say the Molotov cocktail bounced off the door and exploded on the ground, causing no damage to the building.

Police say the suspect then traveled to a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses on 78th Street in Woodhaven, where he allegedly threw a second Molotov cocktail. That device also bounced off the door and exploded on the ground without damaging the building.

A third incident was then discovered at 76-9 Rockaway Boulevard in Cypress Hills. There was no damage to that building.

Authorities later located and arrested the 36-year-old suspect. Police say they recovered two additional Molotov cocktails from his bag at the time of his arrest.

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California Democrat Pushes to Add Muslim Holy Days to State Holidays

While Christmas and Easter are shunned for ‘winter holiday’ and ‘spring holiday’, California State Assemblymember for District 17, Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), authored a bill to establish two Muslim holidays as official state holidays that would allow local public school boards and community colleges the ability to close campuses.

AB 2017, which passed the State Assembly with a 64-1 vote to advance to the Senate Appropriations Committee, would establish Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as official state holidays.

Eid al-Fitr (Festival of Breaking the Fast) is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal, the month immediately following Ramadan, and marks the end of Ramadan.

Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) us elebrated on the 10th day of Dhul-Hijjah, the 12th (final) month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It coincides with the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

In a video shared by the Supervisor of San Francisco District 5, Bilal Mahmood, in March, when the bill was announced, Haney said, “Ramadan Mubarak, everyone. I’m Assemblymember Matt Haney. We’re here at the Islamic Society of San Francisco with an incredible group of community members announcing an exciting bill that we’ve put forward in the state legislature, AB 2017, which will make Eid a state holiday in California.”

“Right now, too many students are being forced to celebrate what is one of the most holy days for them or miss time in school. Workers are being forced to miss critical time at the jobs to be able to celebrate something that is one of the most holy days, not just for Muslim Californians, but nearly 2 billion Muslims across the world.”

“This is how we show truly that we are inclusive, that we value diversity, we celebrate diversity, and that our Muslim neighbors, our friends, our colleagues are fully included and able to celebrate without consequence the most holy a holy day for them.”

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After Displacing Hundreds of Thousands, Netanyahu Claims Lebanese Christians Want Israel to Annex Their Villages

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that some Christian villages in Lebanon have “asked to be annexed” by Israel to gain protection from the Iran-backed terrorists of Hezbollah.

“Among the Christian villages in Lebanon, some have even asked to be annexed to Israel, because we protect them from the fanatics of Hezbollah who want to kill them. And we do the same thing with Christians everywhere,” Netanyahu said in a Fox News interview.

“It’s not only the Christians in Lebanon who asked for our protection. It’s the Druze, it’s Muslims, the Sunni Muslims and quite a few of the Shiite Muslims, too,” he added.

Netanyahu did not specify which villages have made such requests to Israel. The mayor of the Christian village of Rmeish, Hanna al-Amil, quickly denied Netanyahu’s claim as “absolutely out of the question” in an interview with Lebanese public television.

“Fifteen Christian towns had issued a statement two days ago denying these allegations,” he said.

Amil was referring to a statement on Friday in which 13 Christian-majority border villages, including Rmeish, reiterated their commitment to the Lebanese government. The statement was issued in response to media rumors that some of these villages had asked Israel for protection.

The signatories said they had “no power, nor the legal right” to request protection from a foreign government. They reaffirmed their “loyalty to their national identity” and “attachment to their Lebanese flag.”

Amil told Arab News on Monday that the loyalty statement from the Christian border villages should be taken as their final word on the subject.

“The border villages have remained committed to the Lebanese state and its legitimacy throughout the war without wavering. Their residents take pride in their national identity and regard Lebanon as their final and permanent homeland, with no alternative on offer,” he said.

“They reject any attempt to twist their position or exploit their suffering in the service of agendas that have nothing to do with them. The fabricated reports serve only one purpose: to damage the reputation of the border communities and sow confusion,” he added.

Some residents of the Lebanese border region made it clear they were not pleased by the actions of Hezbollah, which triggered Israeli airstrikes and a ground invasion, and were not happy with Beirut’s inability to protect them.

“For three years now, we have been suffering because the Lebanese state failed to extend its sovereignty over its own land,” Rmeish civil activist Gaby al-Hajj told Arab News, looking back to hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel during the Gaza War.

“That left us at the mercy of illegal weapons, and we are paying for it now,” al-Hajj said. “The Israelis have us under siege – yet we refused to leave our villages. We have not turned our backs on Lebanon and we will not. We have held on, regardless of the cost.”

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday praised the loyalty statement from border villages, and warned Lebanese citizens to ignore “Israeli political misinformation” intended to “sow discord among border communities.”

Berri also urged the Beirut government and its allies to halt the “systematic destruction and the ongoing demolition of villages.”

Israel issued evacuation orders to border towns before launching its latest operation against Hezbollah, warning that it could not overlook these villages because Hezbollah operatives were known to hide in them.

As the statement on Friday pointed out, many of the Christian villagers refused to evacuate. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have demolished buildings and homes in southern Lebanon that were allegedly used by Hezbollah to hide its fighters and weapons.

Residents of the Marjeyoun district of Lebanon’s southern Nabatieh province said they received text messages from the IDF on Monday, warning them not to allow displaced residents to return to their homes. Israeli forces conducted drone strikes against suspected Hezbollah operatives who tried to enter restricted parts of Nabatieh on Monday.

The IDF has issued periodic warnings to the mayors of Christian villages, telling them not to allow “strangers” who might be Hezbollah fighters into their towns.

The U.N. mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said over the weekend that some displaced civilians have begun returning to their villages, and the mission aids them when possible.

“We’re not able to offer support in areas where the situation remains volatile, but we are continuing to remove rubble and unexploded ordnance from roads to allow passage, while supporting municipalities and repairing essential infrastructure such as water and electricity,” said UNIFIL spokeswoman Kandice Ardiel.

“The sooner people can return home, the better for long-term stability,” she said.

The Lebanese Health Ministry has estimated about one-fifth of Lebanon’s population, or more than one million people, have been displaced since Hezbollah launched the conflict by attacking Israel on March 2. Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen El Sayed said on Saturday that about 400,000 displaced persons have returned to their homes.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said last Wednesday that the IDF “will not withdraw from the security zones” it has created in Lebanon and Syria.

“The Israeli army will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza until further notice to protect our residents and communities from jihadist elements,” he said.

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Muslim Goes Viral Shouting, ‘This Is the Islamic Republic of New Yorkistan… Mamdani’s New York,’ Claims ‘Islam Will Be in Every Household’

A popular Muslim streamer said the quiet part out loud as he celebrated Egypt’s victory over Australia on Friday in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The streamer in question is 27-year-old Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy, who goes by his username “Sneako” on social media.

Balinthazy, a New York City native, was filmed celebrating in the streets with a group of fans after the aforementioned victory, but decided to inform viewers, “This is the Islamic Republic of New Yorkistan.”

“Islam will be in every household, Inshallah [God willing]. The whole world is Muslim. Welcome to Mamdani’s New York,” he said in a reference to New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim to hold the office.

“You see this city? You see how it looks? Inshallah, your city looks just like this too.”

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Muslim Teen Filmed Himself Stabbing Orthodox Jew in Switzerland – Faces One Year in Prison Max

A Muslim teen in Switzerland filmed himself stabbing an Orthodox Jew in Zurich in 2024.

The teen was 15 at the time of the attack and wished to die a “martyr” or religious killer for Allah.

He faces one year in prison despite being charged with multiple counts of attempted murder.

At the time of the attempted murder, local police said it was not clear what drove the Muslim boy to target the Jewish man but the crime may have been motivated by antisemitism.

YNet News reported:

A juvenile court in Zurich is currently hearing the case of a Muslim teenager, now 17, accused of carrying out an antisemitic stabbing attack against an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man in the city on March 2, 2024.

Prosecutors have charged him with multiple counts of attempted murder and planning a massacre at a synagogue, but due to his age at the time of the attack, 15, the maximum sentence the court can impose is one year in prison.

During the hearing, the judge sought to understand how the defendant became a supporter of Islamic State, how he planned the attack and what his attitude toward the victim is today. The defendant refused to answer any of the questions, repeatedly replying, “No comment.” Due to his silence, the court relied on statements he made during the investigation. According to those statements, his goal was to be killed by police after the attack in order to die as a “martyr” and reach paradise.

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Federal Court Rules Against Amish Families in Religious Exemption Case — Will Supreme Court Have the Last Word?

A federal court last week ruled against a group of Amish parents who sought religious exemptions from school vaccination requirements for their children — a ruling that legal experts suggest may lead to a U.S. Supreme Court showdown that could determine the future of religious exemptions nationwide.

In its ruling in Miller v. McDonald, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said New York State’s law eliminating religious exemptions from school vaccination requirements is “neutral and generally applicable,” doesn’t discriminate against specific religious practices and furthers the state’s interest in protecting the public from disease.

The plaintiffs, a group of parents and representatives of Amish schools in New York, sued New York’s Department of Health and Department of Education in 2023, alleging the state’s law barring religious exemptions violates the U.S. Constitution’s Free Exercise Clause under the First and 14th Amendments.

The parents face $118,000 in fines for noncompliance with the state’s vaccination requirements.

Last week’s decision was the second time the 2nd Circuit ruled against the plaintiffs. The same court previously dismissed the suit in 2024, upholding a decision by another federal court earlier that year.

In December 2025, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the 2nd Circuit, asking it to review constitutional questions arising out of a separate ruling, Mahmoud v. Taylor, in 2024. In that case, the Supreme Court found that parents have the right to request an exemption for their children from LGBTQ curriculum on religious grounds.

According to The Washington Post, last week’s ruling in Miller v. McDonald may “set the stage for a potential Supreme Court battle over vaccine mandates,” citing legal experts who suggested the court is likely to accept the case for review on constitutional grounds and in light of the Mahmoud v. Taylor decision.

Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University professor of health law and an outspoken vaccine proponent, told the Post he expects the Supreme Court to “reverse the appellate court’s decision” if it chooses to review the case.

A review could result in a ruling that would “allow religious vaccine exemptions nationwide,” the Post reported.

The Post reported last month that the Supreme Court has signaled that it “may be open to a constitutional claim based on the lack of a religious exemption for vaccine mandates in New York.”

A Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Amish plaintiffs would be “the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest win,” the Post wrote.

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Society of St. Pius X’s Priest Stands Defiant Against Leo XIV’s Excommunication: ‘A Future Pope Will Welcome Us Back’

Popes come and go.

We have reported on how leftist Pope Leo XIV – through his Holly Office head, the highly controversial Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández – a Pope Francis holdover – has excommunicated the members of the conservative Society of St. Pius X.

They were declared schismatic after four bishops were ordained without Pope Leo’s approval.

But if anyone thought that they’d bow their heads and submit, think again. Reuters calls them unrepentant, we call them defiant.

Reuters reported:

“A priest from a Catholic splinter sect that was excommunicated ‌earlier this week told worshippers on Sunday that the breakaway group would be welcomed back to the Church under a different pope.

[…] ‘There will one day be another pope ​who opens the door and welcomes us back. Just like Pope Benedict’, Georg Kopf ​said at a mass held in the north-eastern Swiss town of Wil.”

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Muslim Texas Nurse Fired After Posting TikTok Video Suggesting She Would Not Treat Patients if They Watch Fox News

A Muslim Texas nurse named “Ahlam” was fired after posting a TikTok video suggesting she would not treat patients if they watch Fox News.

Libs of TikTok exposed the nurse, posted her TikTok to X and tagged her employer, UTMB Health in Houston, Texas.

The nurse posted a video of herself ‘peacing out’ and refusing to treat a patient based on their political views.

“When I walk into my patient’s room and Fox News is blasting,” the nurse said in the caption of video showing her backing away and leaving the room.

According to Libs of TikTok, Ahlam’s social media account has been scrubbed and made private.

On Thursday, UTMB responded to Libs of TikTok and said the nurse was suspended pending an investigation into her behavior.

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