Los Angeles residents fail to stop Christian singer from holding maskless concert

Activists and residents tried preventing the event by creating a car blockade

(Screengrab/YouTube)

A New Year’s event by controversial Christian evangelical singer Sean Feucht, who has been opposing coronavirus guidelines with his shows, kicked off in Los Angeles amid strong protest by residents and activists.

Community leaders asked Mr Feucht to call his programme off amid fears of the event turning into a “super-spreader,” the LA Times reported. Several activists and residents also tried preventing the event from being set-up with a car blockade, but it took place as planned.  

Church Without Walls Pastor Stephen "Cue" Jn-Marie along with Pete White, executive director of the LA Community Action Network, created a Facebook event inviting residents to help form the blockade at Echo Park. The event’s poster said “Resistance blockade against biological warfare: Protest the homeless.”

With several live posts, Mr Jn-Marie showed the protest scenes where the protestors were seen confronting the supporters of Mr Feucht. One person was heard saying “That’s not Christianity, Christianity saves life, not puts life in danger.”

Mr Feucht, however, held his event at Echo Park Lake as on Thursday morning despite the confrontation. He is also holding a concert in a church parking lot in Valencia on Thursday evening.

Mr Feucht, volunteer pastor and failed Republican congressional candidate, has been holding his open-air “Let Us Worship” concerts throughout the country in a push back against government restriction on religious gatherings. His events have seen thousands of his maskless supporters join the crowd, singing and dancing, flouting the coronavirus restrictions. Mr Feucht has upcoming events scheduled in Orange County and San Diego, according to his website.

California, and in particular Los Angeles County, has been hit hard in the latest coronavirus wave. California became the third state in the US to pass 25,000 coronavirus deaths. Nearly 746,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in the county since the pandemic began.