Footage shows that Rock Urban Church in Grandville, Michigan used its July 5th service to play a nearly ten-minute video full of conspiratorial political propaganda which suggested to congregants that COVID-19 is part of an anti-Trump plot from Democratic elites, George Floyd’s killing was arranged to hurt President Donald Trump and other conspiracy theories. The video has a who’s who of favorite conspiracy targets like Barack Obama, Anderson Cooper, Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Maxine Waters, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and other so-called “Deep State” operatives.
The footage has been pulled from the church’s official YouTube page but was captured by activist and digital strategist Joe Spaulding on Twitter.
Calling #COVID19 a Democrat hoax.
2/7 pic.twitter.com/Ovt1DaL1Im— Joe F Spaulding ? (@beyond_process) July 13, 2020
Saying the Democrats planned an insurrection that was supposed to last until the election.
4/7 pic.twitter.com/UsX1XNNdZf— Joe F Spaulding ? (@beyond_process) July 13, 2020
Then the pastor comes on stage and reaffirms everying in the video. He also says he is 68 years old (he says almost 69! ?), and he has been studying the Bible for 69 years.
His church also doesn't pay taxes. Which is good for him, because he's bad at math.
6/7 pic.twitter.com/Qt1YDjueiL— Joe F Spaulding ? (@beyond_process) July 13, 2020
Most of the messages in the video appear to be inspired by, if not pulled directly from, the rapidly growing QAnon conspiracy, which alleges that a vast cabal of politicians, wealthy billionaires and media pundits are pulling America’s strings for their own covert ends when they’re not trying to avoid being exposed by Trump, who is thwarting their plans behind the scenes. QAnon began on 4Chan message boards, inspired by a secret poster claiming to be a high-level government operative dishing classified intel, but has since evolved into far-ranging online community devoted to combing through Q’s easter eggs and secret messages for clues about the Trump Administration’s war against the “swamp” and the “Deep State.”
The original video is called “COVID 911,” posted by a popular QAnon YouTuber who goes by Joe M. The video has over 986,000 views, though it has been flagged as “inappropriate.”
After the video, a man Spaulding identifies as the church’s pastor explains why he has refused to abide by social distancing guidelines advised by the CDC. “This has gotten ridiculously out of control,” he says. “It is time to speak up.”
