As Big Tech continues its crackdown on free speech citing “risk of further incitement of violence”, a Kentucky pastor says he has received numerous death threats on social media for attending the “Save America Rally” on Capitol Hill, last week.
Pastor Brian Gibson, the founder of peaceablygather.com, said he has been falsely accused of being involved in the violence that took place and as a result has had to leave his home, move to an undisclosed location, and is now under 24/7 security protection.
Gibson told CBN’s the PrayerLink he was not involved with the riots, but he went to Washington, DC on the previous day, Jan. 5th, to share the gospel beforehand at a prayer rally with the thousands that had come to the US capital.
“We prayed for our nation, we prayed for our President and we prayed for the Capitol, Congress. You name it; we were there to lift up the country with prayer,” he said.
Gibson said many did give their lives to Christ during the prayer rally.
“I am also an evangelist at heart and so I had the opportunity out at Freedom Plaza…there was probably 8-10,000 people in attendance on Jan. 5th and I preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to that crowd.”
Gibson said nearly half of the crowd responded to the call to salvation.
“It was like revival,” he explained. “We were pumped and my team could not believe what we had seen on the streets of DC.”
Gibson went on to say that he did attend the “Save America Rally” the next day on January 6th. He noted that it was a peaceful event and he felt that President Trump did not say anything to instigate violence.
“I never saw the president call for violence. I never saw the president call for a storming of the Capitol,” he said. “I condemn every violent act that day and so did the president.”
But as many witnessed, what began as a peaceful protest quickly took a violent and deadly turn.
Gibson said he had already returned to his hotel room when he received a call that rioters breached the Capitol.
“I put on my shoes and I took off to see what was happening and I could not believe what had happened,” he shared. “When they broke through those doors it was unreal. You can’t win doing stuff like that…and I am praying for restoration for America.”
Since those events, a photo taken last year was posted online of Gibson and a man who breached the Capitol and who has since been arrested.
Gibson has been falsely accused of taking a part in the violence and he and his family have received numerous death threats.
Gibson told the Prayer Link his phone number and church address was also posted online.
The guy in the sunglasses is Brian Gibson, he is a pastor at a church in Owensboro Kentucky. Make him famous…. pic.twitter.com/x8vsbaiBHJ
— E (@ladygeewiz5) January 7, 2021
Gibson said he was a guest speaker at a Trump pro-life rally in Arizona before the election. Gibson added that he took the photo with the man now identified as 32-year-old Jake Angeli at that event because he had a “cool outfit”.
“If you notice, he stands out in a crowd…he’s dressed like a Disney character or something you would see at Animal Kingdom,” he explained. “After I was done speaking, I walked out (to the crowd) and said ‘hey man you have the coolest outfit in the crowd today’. I thought it was goofy looking and so I took a selfie and posted it.”
Gibson said as a public speaker he takes thousands of pictures with people and he had no idea this picture would come back to haunt him.
“I had no idea what he was going to do,” he said.
“People are posting me with him and trying to connect us. I can’t be responsible for the thousands of pictures or the people’s actions that I’ve taken at rallies across America,” Gibson told WFIE-TV.
He said despite the death threats, he is trusting in God. “We are watching ourselves, but ultimately we know that God protects us,” he said.
“God has not given me a spirit of fear, but love, power, and a sound mind,” Gibson added.
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