Faith leaders react after Donald Trump assassination attempt

Channel 2 Action News heard from faith leaders in metro Atlanta after the attempted assassination of former President Trump over the weekend.

As worshippers filled the pews across metro Atlanta Sunday, leaders and pastors couldn’t let Saturday’s violence go unmentioned.

Many addressed the events from the pulpit.

“We are spiraling down in our moral core that we believe that violence is an option,” said Pastor Jamal Bryant with New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. “Violence begets violence and as children of the Most High God who is the prince of peace, it is our responsibility to call for peace to happen.”

After Saturday’s shooting, Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of the Hillels of Georgia says there is a need to focus on humanity.

“The basic tenant of what Judaism really stands for and really world religion is every human being is created in God’s image and when we go back to that and we are able to look into somebody else’s eyes and say I see you, I hear you, you’re a human being,” said Sernovitz.
Each faith leader reminded their members of the text they cite week after week.

“Jesus died for all of us even for the people we don’t agree with amen, that is the mark of who we are as a believer,” said Bryant.

“I may not agree with everything you’re saying I may not have anything to agree with you on I at least see your humanity and we’ve lost that,” said Sernovitz.

Both Rabbi Sernovitz and Pastor Bryant warned of political debates that escalate to conflict or violence.

Chicago-area faith leaders called for prayers and action following a suspected assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, of St. Sabina Church in the city’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood, told congregants Sunday they were waking up to an America where “nobody is safe.”

“We’re in a country where hate and violence and, most of all, guns have become a norm,” Pfleger told the Sun-Times.

A gunman fired shots during a Trump campaign rally Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania. Trump said he was struck in the ear but was doing “fine” after being rushed off stage, with blood streaming down his face.

One person was killed in the attack. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro identified the victim as Corey Comperatore, a former fire department chief from the area.

He died a “hero,” Shapiro said of Comperatore, who covered his wife and daughter, shielding them from gunfire.

The suspected gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was also killed.

Two additional victims, both men, were also shot but survived.

Pfleger said he hoped Saturday’s attack would spur both Democrats and Republicans to strengthen federal gun laws.

“Maybe America will come to some awaking that nobody is safe while we allow assault weapons and while we continue to have no common-sense gun laws in this country,” Pfleger told the Sun-Times.

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich on Sunday called on worshipers to pray for Trump and his family.

“This is a moment of great risk in the history of our democracy,” Cupich said in a statement. “May God the Father enfold all his children in his loving embrace, encouraging us to listen to our better angels, to break the cycle of violence, and choose peace.”

The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations also expressed “relief” that Trump could go home safely to his family.

But CAIR-Chicago also noted the “irony” that politicians who have “supported actions resulting in the deaths of over 30,000 Palestinians, including 15,000+ children, will now speak out against violence as something that is never justifiable or acceptable.”