On today’s program: Nathaniel Moran, U.S. Representative for Texas’s 1st District, reflects on his trip to Judea and Samaria, international developments surrounding Israel’s role in Gaza, and the Trump-Putin summit on Friday. Clay Higgins, U.S.
SPEAKER 23 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, good afternoon. Hope you are having a fantastic day. Welcome to this edition of Washington Watch. I am Jody Heiss, a senior fellow here at the Family Research Council, and deeply honored to be filling in for Tony this month. All right, coming up on today’s broadcast.
SPEAKER 01 :
On Friday morning, President Trump will travel across the country to Anchorage, Alaska for a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Trump is determined to try and end this war and stop the killing.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, so the White House just announced that the upcoming meeting between President Trump and Putin will take place in Anchorage, Alaska. So now all eyes are on there. And we’ll be discussing the possibility of ending the war there. between Russia and Ukraine, but in the midst of it all, everyone’s asking, can Putin really even be trusted? Well, Congressman Nathaniel Moran will be joining me here in just a few moments to discuss this, and we’ll also unpack with him some of the latest news surrounding the war in Israel, as now we have several American allies who are poised to recognize a Palestinian state. And the shockwaves continue. Yes, shockwaves are being felt as President Trump announced yesterday and signed the executive order declaring a crime and emergency in the city of Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER 08 :
We know that access to our democracy is tenuous. That is why you have heard me and many, many Washingtonians before me advocate for full statehood for the District of Columbia. And while this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that given some of the rhetoric of the past that we’re totally surprised.
SPEAKER 14 :
That was D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser yesterday reacting to the takeover. And Congressman Clay Higgins will be here in just a little while to give his reaction to the executive order. And he’ll be drawing on his personal experience in law enforcement as well as the military and Congress. And then we’ll also be hearing today from Dr. John Lott with the Crime Prevention Research Center. previewing the potential impact of this executive order on Washington, D.C. And then he’s also going to be explaining some very interesting information that the crime data that has been used in Washington, D.C. allegedly has been distorted. And that goes all the way back even to the FBI under the Biden administration. So that ought to be a very interesting conversation. And then lastly today, we’ll dive deeper into Family Research Council’s new Hostility Against Churches in the United States report. And the president and founder of Lionheart International Services Group, Tim Miller, will join me. And catch this, he will offer ways that you can help protect your church. from a host of crimes that FRC has been tracking, so you don’t want to miss that important conversation either. We’ve got a lot coming your way, as we always do. You certainly don’t want to miss any of it, but if you do, you can always catch it at our website, TonyPerkins.com. And by the way, let me just give a quick programming note, if I may, as it relates to the hostility against churches report. Tomorrow, you don’t want to miss that program. We’re going to hear from a pastor whose church and parsonage was literally burned to the ground. And so he’ll be bringing us personal information on what happened to him and the importance of us being aware. of what’s happening in our country as it relates to hostility against Christians. And then I want to just remind you, I’ll speak more about it later, but our PrayVoteStand Summit is coming up in Chino Hills, California on October 17th and 18th. You can register and or get more information by going to PrayVoteStand.org. All right, let’s jump into our first item for today. You heard it just a little while ago. The White House Press Secretary, Carolyn Leavitt, has finally let the American people know that the meeting between President Trump and Putin will take place in Anchorage, Alaska. Well, that’s fine, but it seems like everyone is asking the real question, can the Russian leader be trusted as an honest broker at that upcoming meeting? Well, joining me now to discuss this and more is Congressman Nathaniel Moran. He’s a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, as well as the Ethics Committee and the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. He represents the 1st Congressional District of the Lone Star State of Texas. Congressman Moran, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to have you.
SPEAKER 18 :
Thanks, Jody. It’s always great to be with you.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, so we’ve got this meeting coming up in Anchorage, Alaska, between Presidents Trump and Putin. But even as we speak right now, it seems as though Russian troops are making an aggressive incursion into Ukraine. So the question everyone seems to be asking right now is, can Putin be trusted as he seems to just be going through the motions right now at a potential peace deal with Ukraine? What’s your thoughts about all this?
SPEAKER 18 :
Jody, the answer is simple, and that is no, Putin cannot be trusted. And I think that’s been clear from the very beginning that Putin has strung this along, even when President Trump came into office saying very specifically, this was one of the very first things he wanted to accomplish was peace in Europe. And that means a deal and a peace treaty between Russia and Ukraine. And Putin really has not been a good faith actor from the beginning. I don’t expect that he will be a good faith actor going forward.
SPEAKER 14 :
Wow. Very concerning. And it’s true. I mean, everyone’s going to be watching this thing and seeing what’s going to come out of it. If I can shift gears to you, you’ve been awfully busy, not only in Congress, but as you’re taking time in August to be in your district and abroad. But there’s the international conflict on the other side between Israel and Hamas that continues to take place. And you were recently in Israel with Speaker Mike Johnson. And also while you were there, you visited Judea and Samaria, as I understand it. Give me your thoughts of what you saw while you were over there and your thoughts as to what’s happening in that particular war.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, that conflict is certainly regrettable because it didn’t have to happen. And this trip with Speaker Johnson and some other members of Congress was really remarkable. It’s a great reminder that there is evil in this world, and we have to defeat that evil. But it was also a reminder, as we traveled through Judea and Samaria, and this is the first time a Speaker of the House has been in that region, inside what they call the Blue Line, We talked to both Arabs and Israelis that want peace and want stability in the region. When you get outside of the religious fervor of Hamas and Hezbollah and the terrorist groups that are inflicting so much damage, you find a lot of people there on both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflicts seemingly that want that same thing. They want stability and peace in the region, and there’s opportunity for it. But truly, there’s some bad actors even beyond those groups. When you look at what’s going on in Syria and you look at what is happening in other regions of the Middle East that’s impacting the ability of Israel to really have that safety and security we were in And the Gaza, right outside the Gaza Strip and the southern border where the kibbutz was that got invaded, one of the kibbutz that got invaded on October 7th. And at the Nova Festival site, we heard from one of the Nova survivors. We met with sheikhs in Gaza. In the West Bank area, the Judea-Samaria area that talked about their fear of Hamas and Hezbollah. We were on the Golan Heights and we were up there getting the defense briefing, seeing what could come in from Syria and understanding really the difficulties that are going on inside of Syria where they are inflicting terrorism on their own groups. including peace-loving groups, peace-loving Arabs like the Druze. And so there is conflict all around Israel, and there is a need for and a possibility for a path to peace. But it can’t be through the Palestinian Authority, and it can’t be through acquiescence to the terrorism that’s going on through Hamas and Hezbollah.
SPEAKER 14 :
So there’s a desire for peace. There are good actors. There are bad actors. And then I think there are some actors that are just simply confused. And that would include places like Great Britain and France and Germany and now even Australia, all of them coming out. planning to recognize a Palestinian state. Congressman, what are our allies not getting about the reality that a two-state so-called solution will never bring peace?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, I don’t know where their difficulty is in understanding this, but you’re right. I mean, the European countries and Canada and others around the world that want to simply just try to get to the most simple end point and say, well, this is going to work. Well, they’re wrong. And truth be told, I would be shocked if many of them have even visited the region. When we were there, we were also talking with experts. Ambassador Huckabee about what he’s seen and what he perceives. And there is opportunity for peace, but it’s got to come from within. And that’s one of the things is the external world cannot force it on that region, particularly Judea, Samaria, that cannot force peace in a certain way there. It’s got to come from within where The people groups in that area have to say, this is what we want. This is how we want to get there. And then they need support from the West, from the United States in particular. And they said that. And from Israel, from a security standpoint, they all recognize that there are going to be terrorist groups that don’t like change and don’t like stability.
SPEAKER 14 :
Really good insight on all of that. Let me shift gears with you real quickly in just a couple of moments that we have left. A Democrat whistleblower has come forward stating that they were actually in a meeting with then-Congressman, now-Senator Adam Schiff, who authorized the leaking of documents that would certainly paint President Trump in a derogatory manner. When did all this happen, and what are we learning in all of this so far?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, this, as it’s coming out, we knew some of this going through some of our oversight and judiciary in the last year that we knew that Schiff was not acting in good faith, another bad actor that was trying to undermine President Trump’s Trump’s run for president in 2016. And so we didn’t know the extent of what you’re seeing today, what the whistleblower is coming out and saying that Schiff had actually released some of these secure documents, confidential documents to try to undermine that run for president in 2016. But it shouldn’t surprise anybody. If anybody has been following Adam Schiff for any amount of time, they know The truth is elusive with him, and he’s happy to speak something other than the truth so long as it’s politically advantageous to him or the Democrats. And that’s why, actually, when I came into Congress in the 118th Congress, even Kevin McCarthy back then, he said Adam Schiff can no longer be on the Intelligence Committee. We can’t have him on there because he had been – falsely stating things outside of those committee hearings that he knew was not true based on information that he was being given in those hearings. So we now know, even from a Democratic whistleblower, that more of that was going on. But it shouldn’t surprise us. That’s Adam Schiff. It’s a lack of character. And unfortunately, that’s the person that California has chosen to have them have representation for them in the Senate. And that’s really unfortunate.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, it really is. It’s going to be very, very interesting to see where FBI Director Cash Patel takes all of this and just the fact that Adam Schiff is no longer in the House, but over in the Senate, how is all this going to ultimately be addressed? Thank you, Congressman Nathaniel Moran of Texas. Always great to have you. Appreciate you coming on the program and giving your great insight.
SPEAKER 18 :
Jody, it’s always great to be here with you. Thank you to you and Tony and Washington Watch for all the folks for what you do to keep us in tune with where we need to be from a Christian worldview and the political and cultural battles of the day.
SPEAKER 14 :
Thank you so much. All right, friends. Next, law enforcement officer and current congressman Clay Higgins is going to react to Trump’s declaration of an emergency safety problem in our nation’s capital. Coming up next. Stay tuned.
SPEAKER 15 :
The family is the oldest, most tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained. And yet, there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure. That’s why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
SPEAKER 24 :
Family Research Council began over 40 years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation’s capital, FRC continues to champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
SPEAKER 06 :
FRC is one of those bright lights that helps us focus on true north. And I shudder to think had they not been here that it could have been worse, worse, worse.
SPEAKER 17 :
The Family Research Council is key. It’s one of a handful of groups that I think will determine whether our children live in a country that enjoyed all of the freedom and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
SPEAKER 07 :
It’s just a wonderful parachurch organization that doesn’t seek to take the place of the church, but it seeks to assist the family and the church as we try to move forward successfully, not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the Holy Scriptures.
SPEAKER 10 :
FRC is not going to be whooped. You know, we’re going to fight. We’re going to take a stand. And again, we don’t retreat. You will never see in front of this building here in Washington, D.C., a white flag flying. We will never step back. We will never surrender. And we will never be silent.
SPEAKER 21 :
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan in daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us in Stand on the Word.
SPEAKER 14 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. So glad to have you. I’m Jody Heiss. An honor today to be filling in for Tony. And thank you as well for joining us. All right. The dust is still hasn’t even completely settled from President Trump’s huge announcement yesterday that he plans to have Attorney General Pam Bondi literally take command of the Metropolitan Police Department. That is the police department that runs the local district of Columbia. in Washington. And his executive order even went further than that, laying out finer details that he is also going to be deploying the National Guard there in our nation’s capital to assist the Metropolitan Police in trying to bring crime down So there’s a lot of major developments, and the question is, what is all this going to mean in practice? And also, how can Congress partner with the president in addressing some of these crime issues in D.C.? Well, joining me now to discuss this is Congressman Clay Higgins. He’s a member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, which, by the way, the two of us got to serve together on that committee. He’s also a member of the Homeland Security Committee and the Armed Services Committee. He represents the 3rd Congressional District. of the great state of Louisiana. He’s also an Army veteran and a law enforcement officer. Congressman Higgins, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to see you.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you, Jody. It’s good to see you, sir.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right. Well, you are a law enforcement officer, a member of the Oversight Committee. Overall, what’s your reaction to President Trump’s takeover plan, if you will, of Washington, D.C., and the crime problem there?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I wouldn’t call it a takeover. I mean he’s he’s following the law is going to abide by the existing law that allows the executive to. control and greatly influence the Metropolitan Police Department for a period of time in one city in the entire United States. That’s our capital. So our capital should be the shining jewel exemplifying the law and order and core principles of our nation. And under Democrat rule for As long as anyone can remember, certainly in the course of my life, Washington, D.C. has been totally controlled by Democrats at the local level. So those policies have led to heinous crime and horrible conditions in our nation’s capital. So maybe, Jody, the real question should be, but sirs, why have we allowed this to happen for so long in our country? I think it’s very clear that we should take corrective action. And the president is doing just that. He’ll abide by the law in the process of restoring law and order and decency to our nation’s capital. But, you know, why did we as a people allow it to drift so far from the core principles that made our country great?
SPEAKER 14 :
I think that’s a great question. Great question. So your experience, I mean, you’re there as a member of Congress now, but you also have tremendous experience in law enforcement yourself as well as military. So what have you witnessed there as far as areas that need improvement with the Metropolitan Police? What would you encourage or what do you anticipate Attorney General Pam Bondi to do to try to help the Metropolitan Police Department there?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, the city, Jody, as you know, you’re a regular visitor there and we’re always happy to see you. And I was honored to have served with you, sir. And we just serve our nation in a different capacity now. And I very much appreciate your current position and allowing me to speak to these things. I’m just a humble servant of we the people. So what I share is regarding my observations and not political at all. As you know me pretty good, I generally, I don’t even consider myself a politician. So just as an American citizen, a regular man, our nation’s capital, is exhibiting some of the worst things that you’ll see in any city, anywhere. The crime, the nastiness that you’ll see in the streets, the homeless men and women that just have dominant presence in areas where people come to see our city from across the world. And they have homeless men and women there that are not only sort of present in the background that you might envision, but they are very much present and active in the foreground. And they’re doing nasty things, let me just say. This is a family’s core principle interview, so I’m going to refrain from describing some of these things in detail. But they’re doing nasty things. And it’s abhorrent to observe, and the crime is terrible. I walk to the Freedom Caucus meeting every week on flying day, where we have our first meeting, which you’ve attended many. And I walk by myself. And I observe, and I’m going to tell you, it’s dangerous. Just that three or four blocks to walk off of the campus through the darkened streets of Washington, D.C. is dangerous every time I do it.
SPEAKER 14 :
Let me ask you this, Congressman Higgins, real quickly. We’ve only got about a minute or so left, but do you think this is going to potentially be the beginning of the end of home rule and Congress literally takes back some authority in oversight of Washington, D.C.? ?
SPEAKER 09 :
I don’t think home rule will be overturned. I believe that the proper execution of home rule by the elected officials of Washington, D.C. will be enforced because their failures will be highlighted. We’re going to restore law and order and decency so quickly. in Washington, D.C., that we the people are going to say, well, why hasn’t that already been accomplished by the people who run D.C., the elected officials at the local level? So they’ll be forced to perform, I believe.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, we’re all going to keep a very close lookout on this. I want to thank you, Congressman Clay Higgins, for your expertise, for your insights, for your tremendous leadership in Louisiana, as well as Washington, D.C. and our country. Thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you, Jody. God bless you, sir.
SPEAKER 14 :
Likewise, and tell our Freedom Caucus friends hello for me. All right, on the other side of the break, John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center will be here to break down the potential impact of this decision from the president to deploy the National Guard. What’s it going to look like? We’ll get into all of that right on the other side of the break, so stay tuned.
SPEAKER 02 :
Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today. You can join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We’ve created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective. Read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events, and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family, and church members. And of course, Stand Firm wherever you go.
SPEAKER 13 :
At Family Research Council, defending the family isn’t just a mission, it’s our daily calling. Every team member at FRC uses their God-given talents to stand for biblical truth, protect life, and uphold religious freedom.
SPEAKER 12 :
Here at Family Research Council, we face many threats to the family, threats that have been with us for some time. Abortion, the gender ideology threat, the attacks on marriage, the attacks on parental authority, and the attacks on religious freedom. We have to promote, support, strengthen, and incentivize family growth so families take their place in society in a place of honor.
SPEAKER 22 :
I’m defending the family by working in the Center for Biblical Worldview to provide cutting edge research and resources for pastors, ministry leaders, and Christian parents.
SPEAKER 05 :
Through my work at the Washington Stand, I passionately defend what God has defined for marriage and family. I don’t see the Washington stand as just a place to talk about cultural events. It’s a place to share biblical truth with the perfect outlet to advance and defend what God has defined as good, true, and beautiful.
SPEAKER 19 :
Because of you, we’re able to frame things in such a way that help Christians stand for truth on the things that matter most, like life, faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you for standing with us.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thank you for your support. It is so critical to the work that we at Family Resource Council are doing day to day as we support and strengthen the family. So thank you.
SPEAKER 14 :
Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Jody Heiss, your host today, filling in for Tony. Glad to have you with us. All right. We want to continue our discussion regarding President Trump’s executive order declaring a crime emergency in the District of Columbia. And ultimately, what could be the impact of this executive order? We are in process right now trying to get Dr. John Lott, who’s the president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, and he is joining us right now. Dr. Lott, can you hear me? Welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 03 :
I hear you fine. Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, good. We’re glad to have you. All right, we’ve been all over this issue of President Trump’s decision to take on crime and the problem there of crime in Washington, D.C. And look, we all know the crime seems to just be getting out of control in cities all across America. But from your perspective, why is there so much crime in Washington, D.C.? What’s the root cause in your opinion?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I mean, it’s not rocket science. Basically, if you want to deter crime, you have to make it risky for criminals to go and commit crime. And that means higher arrest rates, higher conviction rates, longer prison sentences, allowing victims to be able to go and defend themselves. In Washington, D.C., they have like 1,300 patrol officers. You have at most 400 or so on duty at any point in time for a city of 720,000 people. That’s a lot of ground to cover. And as the police union head has said there, the officers are stretched very thin. It’s hard for them to do what they need to do. Plus, there’s all sorts of restrictions that the city has put on them, making it more difficult for them to go and do their jobs. And so they’re very strong supporters of the changes that Trump’s going to be imposing, at least while they… have the federal government in control. But it’s not just arrest rates, it’s also prosecution and conviction rates. The US attorney that you had under Biden in 2022, he refused to press charges in 67% of the arrests that were made. In 2023, it was slightly better, but he still refused to press charges in 55% of the arrests that were made. You know, that’s not making it very risky. And even when they have convictions, so like a lot of the crime has been committed by juveniles in part because how they are treated differently in the system there. And you have situations where juveniles are being let off, you know, even when they get convicted of not facing any real punishments at all. And so, you know, it’s, as I say, again, it’s not rocket science.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, great, great insight there. I wanted to ask you this about the reporting of some of the stats. Certainly, there’s so much of legacy media, different ones have been pushing that Washington, D.C. has a 30-year low in crime. But then there are certainly claims that those reports are incorrect. So which is it? Is Washington at a crime low of 30 years or is it not?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, look, there are lots of issues with it. I mean, one part is just kind of the corruption issues that seem to be being brought to light in the last month or so in terms of how they’ve recorded crimes. Recording serious violent crimes is not being serious enough to be counted in the numbers that are released. So that’s one issue. The other issue that you have, and this is something that’s kind of affected the numbers nationally, is you have to understand we have two different measures of crime. We have crimes reported to police, and then we have, from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a measure of total crimes reported and unreported, and that’s from a really massive 240,000-person survey that the Bureau of Justice Statistics does each year, and they’ve been doing this for over 50 years. It’s basically because of that measure data that we know only about 40% of violent crimes are reported to police and only about 30% of property crimes are reported to police. Now, prior to COVID, both the number of reported crimes and total crimes tended to move up and down together. Since then, they’ve been pretty much unrelated. So for example, while the FBI data has shown that the number of reported crimes remained pretty much flat during the first three years of the Biden administration, the Bureau of Justice statistics numbers show that there was an unprecedented 55% increase in violent crime during that period of time. That’s more than twice as large is the largest previous percentage increase that we’d had in violent crime. And there are multiple reasons for why you have that gap that’s occurring. One thing that’s happened We’ve known this for a long time. Whether people report crimes to the police depend in part on whether they think the criminals are going to be caught and punished. If people don’t think that the criminals are going to be caught at very high rates, they’re less likely to go and report that information to the police. There are lots of things. I’ll give you one other example. And that is when you look around these cities, what you find is that- We have about 30 seconds, by the way, John. Yeah. Many times now, six years ago, if you called the police, they would send out a police car to take the report. Now they say, well, is the criminal there? And they say, no, well, you can come down to the police station and fill out a police report that’s here and wait in line while you do that.
SPEAKER 14 :
Wow. Unbelievable. John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center, thank you so much. Fascinating information. We appreciate you joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you very much.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, friends, coming up, what steps can you and your church take so that you’re not a victim of hostility? We’ll get into that in just a moment with Tim Miller, so stay tuned.
SPEAKER 20 :
Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 16 :
Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually gonna benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 25 :
There are so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
SPEAKER 16 :
This is really magical to have the therapist and the individual who suffered come together and write about why this is happening and why we’re seeing this.
SPEAKER 25 :
And we brought all of that experience to the table. We want to see people walking in the fullness of who God has called them to be and not a false identity.
SPEAKER 15 :
Order today at embracethedesign.com.
SPEAKER 04 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 14 :
Hope you’re having a great day. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss, filling in today for Tony. All right, before we jump into our final segment, I once again want to encourage you to join us at the PrayVote Stand Summit. This is a powerful, powerful event for those of you who have never been. I want to urge you to come. For those of you who have come, look forward to seeing you again. It’s going to take place on October 17th and 18th at Chino Hills, California. And again, this is one of the most impactful events that you will ever be a part of. And I want to encourage you to register and or learn more by going to our website, PrayVoteStand.org. PrayVoteStand.org. Go check it out, and we look forward to seeing you there in October. All right. This Friday, it happened again. This past Friday, it happened again. A man was injured during a shooting outside of a church. This took place in Memphis area. The Memphis Police Department responded. They got on the scene and found the victim lying in the grass in front of the church with a gunshot wound to his right leg. Now, thankfully, that victim was taken to the hospital and is expected a full recovery. But incidents like this have sadly become increasingly common. And to be quite frank with you, this tracks right along line with the findings from Family Research Council’s newest edition of our hostility against churches in the United States. That report covered the last calendar year of 2024. So here is where we’re going in this segment. How can you protect your church? from things like vandalism, from arson, from shootings, and more. How can you and your church be protected? And joining me now to discuss this is Tim Miller. He’s the president and founder of Lionheart International Services Group. He’s had a 30-year career as a law enforcement and military professional, including… a Secret Service special agent. He was assigned to the Washington field office, and there he coordinated all aspects of security for the president, the vice president, all sorts of foreign heads of states on a regular basis. He’s a former director of security at Christ Fellowship Church in South Florida. Tim, always great to have you. Welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 11 :
Thank you, brother. It’s an honor to be with you. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER 14 :
Well, thank you for all you do. All right, I’m sure you probably haven’t been able to go through all of it, but FRC’s report has uncovered, among other things, 284 incidents of vandalism against churches in 2024. By far, that was the biggest crime issue that churches faced in that year. So how can churches protect themselves against vandalism? Let’s just jump right into this. What do you recommend?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, Tony, it’s important to realize we’re not attending our grandfather’s churches anymore. You know, churches used to be the safe places. Nobody would vandalize a church. You didn’t want the fear of the Lord upon you. Unfortunately, just like Scripture says, men’s hearts are turning cold and we’re seeing an increase. And here’s what I encourage every church that I help. hey, you, like everyone else, have to have a security plan. And a security plan, basically, if you want to combat vandalism, you got to start from the road in. You got to have cameras and lighting. And a lot of folks say, look, we don’t have money for that. And that’s just not true now. You can go to Walmart and get a set of cameras and run them off your phone. LED lighting is certainly available to everyone. But really, Jody, it’s the mindset shift. Pastors get it. We must protect the flock against the schemes of the enemy. But guess what? We got to also protect the flock against people that are controlled by the enemy. And to your point, when you opened, people are being shot in churches. We’re watching, and I know you did too, in horror, pastors preaching a sermon being attacked. And so that requires us to think, you know, every good security operation starts with a good security plan. Nobody wants to make the, you know, the church, the White House or the Secret Service. But every church has to have a plan. You got to start with, you know, from the road in. And then you got to think about things like fire and medical emergencies, because we all know we operate when we’re trained and have a plan.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, so let’s go down some of these lists. The number one, as I just mentioned, 284 cases of vandalism. But the next largest category is what you just mentioned, crimes against churches in the form of arson. So how can churches protect themselves against that? That seems a little bit more difficult, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, you’re right, Jody. But here’s the point. The church is a unique organization because you have members. You have people that are willing to help with security. Many places I go, they just have never been trained, but they’re very observant and they’re helpful. And to your point for arsons, that means that you have to get close up to the building, going back to what we talked about with vandalism. If you have the ability, remember, security should always be proactive. things we do to stop it from happening. And a lot of the cameras now have motion detectors. They have alert functions. They have, obviously, with lights. But also it’s important, Jody, to remember, if you have somebody that’s angry with your church, it’s important if they begin to cross the line. We’re seeing a record increase in mental health issues. If they begin to cross the line and say things that could be construed as, hey, we’re going to attack your church, It’s important you get law enforcement involved very, very quickly.
SPEAKER 14 :
I would assume some of those comments could be made and monitored to some extent, at least for church members keeping seeing it or reporting it if they see anything on social media.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, and that’s really the key. You know, Jody, we’ve seen, we train folks all over the world, and especially on the corporate side, we’re seeing, but even on the church side, most of the attacks are preceded by someone that’s familiar, has known the church. Very rarely is it a random attack. Usually, even the CDC shooting, he was angry with the CDC this last week in Atlanta. But it seems, to your point, they’re happening more and more. And that information sharing, if somebody begins posting things, if you begin to hear things, it’s really important because most agencies now, police agencies, you can report tips anonymously and at least give law enforcement an opportunity to investigate it and stop it.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right, so our report also found 28, and this is amazing to me, 28 gun-related crimes in churches. So what about the physical security concerns preventing an active shooter situation or some other kind of gun-related crime? What can churches do to help in that area?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, and Jenny goes back to our plan. You know, if you’ve got a good solid plan where you know, you know, tornado areas, evacuation areas, fire on the other extreme, you have an active violence plan. And that plan should always involve all of the people that are volunteering at the church, ushers, greeters, parking lot attendants, because you’re right. We are seeing more and more armed issues happen on church property. If you have an active violence issue and you don’t have a plan, it doesn’t tend to go well. Now, many get upset because, well, we can’t have armed people running around the church. Well, I would argue that if you have highly trained people like your police officers, many military veterans as part of your congregation, you should provide good training for them how to stop and thwart an active violence incident. You know, I would bring the Covenant School to light. That attack, it took between 12 and 14 minutes for police to get there. What a horrible period of time if you don’t have anybody that’s planned and prepared to address that threat.
SPEAKER 14 :
Yeah, good point. A lot of horrible things can happen in 12, 14 minutes if there’s no plan and no protection. Another thing we’re seeing an increase in that this one kind of gets out of my capacity to understand what to do at all. Some of the others, I’ve been involved in some of these other things you’ve talked about, but bomb threats of all things are becoming more more and more frequent against churches. Is there any way to prevent those?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, certainly you look at the statistic for even this report, and most of them were hoaxes. That’s usually the objective of a bomb threat, to cause chaos, cause fear, cause people to have to disrupt. We’ve seen them in schools so the kids wouldn’t take tests. The good news on bomb threats now is with the technology, you really can’t identify the source of those calls. And let me tell you, if you’re caught making those kinds of calls, there are some pretty significant penalties in a lot of states. So to your point, it’s important that we train our receptionists, folks that answer the phone, What do we do? Unfortunately, most churches and even companies that I consult with, they don’t necessarily have a plan. And I often say when I’m training folks, the time to figure out how to respond is not in the middle of the crisis.
SPEAKER 14 :
Or after the crisis. Right. That’s well said. All right. So with that, that’s a good segue into this question. What do you say about church leaders getting to know their local law enforcement officers? That’s probably a good idea, wouldn’t it?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, it’s the best idea, Jody. Honestly, I tend to come across one of two camps, so to speak, with church leadership. One is, well, God will protect us. We don’t need to worry about that. And the other is, you know, we need a SWAT team here. And though we need a SWAT team here, it’s not a very large population. But the point is that the pastoral leadership will set the tone for for the type of security in the congregation. Now, I often say, you know, to the pastors that say, you know, God will do it. Well, he could save the world, but he uses people to bring the gospel, and he uses people in every area of ministry. And let me segue. Jodi, it’s so huge that we don’t make churches arm camps with folks running around with earpieces, you know, causing an interruption in the ministry. It should be the opposite. The security ministry within a church should have good training in terms of how to help hurting people. If hurting people can’t come to a church and find help, where do they go? And so part of that ministry mindset within security is how do we de-escalate? How do we deal? We’re seeing an increase in domestic issues manifest across the country. How do we help people that are hurting, people that are on drugs, people that are dealing with mental health? That’s part of the training that we need to have in addition to active violence, but we can’t lose sight of the mission. It has to be because the church needs to be strong and a healthy security ministry is huge. I can’t tell you how many parents came up to me when our church was huge and we did some decisive things in protecting children that would come up to me and go, you know, we’re here because we feel like our children are safe. coming to church. And so it’s an important thing.
SPEAKER 14 :
It really is. And yeah, I think to some extent, maybe I’m wrong, but I think some of what you’re saying too is perhaps build a strong, well-prepared team that has a good plan, but don’t broadcast it so you scare people to death. that people are running around with guns, so to speak, as you described, but you just have it in the background. And perhaps a good way of dealing with that is incorporating church members, as you alluded to a while ago, who may have law enforcement backgrounds or military background. I would think that’s probably the best place to start.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, you’re exactly right, Jody. You have a background where I came from. You know, most of the Secret Service is not what’s out in front. It’s what’s behind. You’ve got a whole lot of folks that are working very hard to make sure the events go off. And that’s really the model for the church. Churches should have technology involved now with cameras and they also should have a medical team and they should have a lot of things going on. And even the security team, I get a lot of questions. Well, should we be, you know, have security all over us? I don’t think that’s a good practice because if someone wants to hurt you, I don’t want to tell them who to hurt first. So it should blend in. I often encourage our folks just to look like you’re an usher and be friendly and helpful. But the point is you do have to have a serious security team. The days of just shaking hands and maybe having a few people watch, those are gone. You have to have an organized effort. It has to be clear planning. You got to put some resources towards it as well. Because, you know, at the end of the day, we want people to come to church and to feel freedom to come and worship without worrying about this stuff.
SPEAKER 14 :
Absolutely. So a last question. I think this is going to lead us to the end of our time, unfortunately. But how should churches go about putting together a security team and if they won’t? More information, they’re interested in finding out how to beef up perhaps the security that they already have. Where should they go to find out more and how do they get started?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, we do that, lionheartsecurityteam.com. They can read lionheartsecurityteam.com altogether. We do church assessments and we do training. But here’s the minimum that a church should do. They need to reach out. To your point, Jody, they need to reach out to local law enforcement, local fire services. They need to get online and query. There’s some good training online now that you can get. Most important thing is you’ve got to make it a priority in your church. You have to get the leadership together and say, look, we don’t want to make this a standing army, but we want to have security and we want to have the capability to respond. Starts with a team that’s committed inside of your church. Then it starts with a really basic plan. And then we start doing some training. You know, maybe it’s CPR to start out with. Maybe it’s stop the bleed. Maybe there are a lot of options. But at the end of the day, every church has to do something. Why? Because we believe the Word of God. We know how this story ends. And if anybody should be wise, prepared, and not paranoid, it should be the body of Christ.
SPEAKER 14 :
Tim Miller, one more time, give us that website where people can go for more information.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay, it’s lionheartsecurityteam.com, lionheartsecurityteam.com.
SPEAKER 14 :
All right. Ellis, I would just encourage some pastors may want to check into being a chaplain for their local law enforcement or fire department, that type of thing. Great place to start. Thank you so much, Tim Miller, Lionheart International Services. We appreciate so much your valuable, valuable, and timely insight. Thank you for joining us on Washington Watch. Thank you. All right, friends, that wraps it up for another day. Have a wonderful evening. We’ll see you again tomorrow right here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 23 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
