Street evangelist team assaulted by pedestrians in rainbow-painted sidewalk outside lesbian bar
Evangelist preached 'Receive Jesus as your Savior' moments before assault
An Arizona-based street evangelist says his team was assaulted during a street outreach in the LGBT “Rainbow District” in Los Angeles.
David Hoffman of His Kingdom Enterprises was with other members of a street evangelism team in the West Hollywood area around 2 a.m. on Aug. 16 when he says David Ramirez, another member of his group, was “sucker punched” from behind by an unidentified assailant.
According to Hoffman, the incident occurred just outside Sweetwater, a lesbian bar near the corner of San Vicente and Santa Monica Boulevards, where Ramirez was “giving someone else a hug to show them that he loved them and was not against them.”
Video footage of the incident showed Ramirez telling the crowd, “Receive Jesus as your Savior; I want you to enter the Kingdom of God,” when he was assaulted by a pedestrian along a rainbow-painted “LGBT pride” crosswalk.
Moments after the assault, Ramirez is heard saying, “Praise God, praise God. Hallelujah.”
In the video’s caption, Ramirez said he was hit two or three times, including one punch to the throat that hit his Adam’s apple and caused him to lose his voice.
According to Hoffman, the assailant — whose face cannot be clearly seen in the video — left the scene “cursing him out,” along with others in the area joining in. “He came over to me and pointed to his throat and almost inaudibly said that he couldn't talk. At first, I thought it was just a small thing. Like maybe the wind had got knocked out of him.”
Hoffman said he called the police to report the assault, but “they were not much help.”
“[Ramirez] showed them the video, but it was very hard for him to communicate with them because his throat was swelling and he could not speak,” he said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s West Hollywood Station did not respond to CP's request for comment.
In an interview with The Christian Post, Hoffman, who regularly travels around the country for evangelism outreaches, said he was unaware of West Hollywood’s longtime identity as an LGBT hub.
“We did not know going in that West Hollywood was the most densely LGBT place in the world,” he told The Christian Post. “Nevertheless, God cares about the people there and wants them to repent of their sins and receive Jesus Christ. We were not preaching in a provocative way. We weren't really talking about the sin of homosexuality or calling any group out.”
When asked whether his group will take additional precautions for their next outreach, Hoffman said he’s not convinced such a step is necessary.
"When it comes to security in the world of street preaching, you rely greatly on God's protection and do not overstep when people have anger but de-escalate the situation,” he said. “In the incident that occurred, it was totally unprovoked and came right after David hugged someone and preached on the mic that he loved everyone there.”
“One good thing that can be implemented in the future is not hugging anyone when in heavy foot traffic,” he added.
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.
