Activists plan a car blockade to stop Sean Feucht, an evangelical Christian singer who has a history of defying COVID guidelines, from moving forward with his "massive outreach" event at the Skid Row homeless encampment in Los Angeles this Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Feucht is planning three days of New Year's gatherings in the Los Angeles area, which will include stops at Skid Row as well as another encampment in the neighboring city of Echo Park, raising fears that the gatherings will spark an outbreak within L.A.'s homeless population. L.A. and the entire Southern California region will remain in lockdown mode for at least the next month due to the virus' record-surging levels in the state.
Feucht started his "Let us Worship" concert series in response to government officials clamping down on religious gatherings as an effort to stem the virus' spread. As the Los Angeles Times points out, Feucht has hosted events that featured thousands of maskless worshippers.
Feucht's ministry claims they ask followers to heed COVID guidelines, but Feucht associate Charles Karuku says they're not in the business of enforcing laws. "It's up to the people how they choose to come," he told the Times.
In a letter to the city, the California Poor People's Campaign has called on the officials to stop Feucht's events.
"Police know how to show up and issue orders to disperse an illegal gathering," the letter stated.
L.A. Councilman Kevin de León said his office and the mayor's staff will be on skid row Wednesday morning to distribute personal protective equipment and sanitation kits to homeless people. He did not mention anything about enforcing L.A.'s COVID guidelines.
"It's a super spreader event," Jenna Kyle of the Poor People's Campaign told CBS Los Angeles. "They're coming in with no masks, no social distance. They haven't done either in their past events. Chicago tried to shut them down. New Orleans put out a statement that they regretted that they ever allowed the event to occur."