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Texas, Baptist preacher celebrates gay man’s death at Wilton Manors Pride

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Pastor Jonathan Shelley gives a sermon celebrating people being killed at Pride parades
Pastor Jonathan Shelley (Photo: Twitter)

Video of a Baptist preacher in Texas welcoming the death of a man last weekend at Wilton Manors Pride has appeared online.

The video was originally posted by Stedfast Baptist Church in Hurst, near Fort Worth. Its pastor is named Jonathan Shelley. The church’s YouTube channel carries a wealth of videos denouncing LGBTQ people and Pride Month, with some claiming the Bible prescribes the death penalty for homosexuals.

Related: Wilton Manors Pride truck tragedy: Victims and driver, 77, all members of Gay Men’s Chorus

In this particular video, Shelley says, “It is going beyond just saying you do all this wicked stuff. It’s saying you enjoy it. You enjoy murder. You enjoy malignity. You enjoy hating God.

“Look, there’s only one group that enjoys that: It’s the Pride parades going up and down the street.

“And, you know, it’s great when trucks accidentally go through those, you know, parades. I think only one person died. So hopefully we can hope for more in the future.

“You say, ‘Well, that’s mean.’ Yeah, but the Bible says that they’re worthy of death! You say, ‘Are you sad when fags die?’ No, I think it’s great!

“I hope they all die! I would love it if every fag would die right now. And you say, ‘Well, I don’t think that’s what you really mean.’ That’s exactly what I mean. I really mean it!”

The Stedfast Church video, which appears to have now been deleted from YouTube, was captured and posted to Twitter by Hemant Mehta of The Friendly Atheist.

According to Mehta, Shelley’s church is affiliated with the infamous “death to gays” Pastor Steven Anderson.

Related: Antigay Pastor Steven Anderson says victims of Paris attacks worshipped death and therefore deserved to die

At Wilton Manors Stonewall Parade on Saturday, a man lost control of his truck. It accelerated and hit others in the parade. Two men were rushed to hospital, where one was pronounced dead. It was later revealed that both driver and victims were members of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus.

The man who died has been identified as James Fahy, aged 75. The driver has been named by police as Fred Johnson Jr, 77. Johnson released a statement Monday evening saying, “This was a horrible accident and I offer my sincere regrets to all those who were impacted by this tragic event.

“I love my Chorus family and the community and would never do anything to intentionally harm anyone.

“Please know that I hold my fellow Chorus member, Jim Fahy, in my heart forever and offer my condolences to his friends and family.’

Johnson continues to assist the police with their investigation.

Although Shelley’s so-called sermon appears to have now been deleted from YouTube, the Stedfast church’s channel, which has almost 10k subscribers, continues to host videos denouncing Pride Month. It posted another one yesterday. The historic news clip showed one of the church’s other pastors saying that the murders that took place at Pulse in Orlando in 2016 shouldn’t be considered a tragedy.