Tempe, Arizona’s Faithful Word Baptist Church’s pastor Steven Anderson claims he was a victim of a false shooting call known as “swatting” this past Sunday.
Anderson started Faithful Word Baptist Church in 2005, a New Testament church of about 300 members aiming to reach the Phoenix area with the gospel of Jesus Christ. According to the church’s website, worshipers should not “expect anything contemporary or liberal. We are an old-fashioned, independent, fundamental, King James Bible only, soul-winning Baptist church.”
Police arrived at Anderson’s house, where it was reported that nine of his eleven children along with his wife were present, after a 9-1-1 call claimed there were multiple bodies at the house resulting from a shooting.
The prank potentially could have resulted in officers shooting one or more of the family members due the nature of the emergency call. Police were shouting at the Anderson family to come out with their hands up while banging on their front door.
Anderson shared that he thought it was his son joking until the pastor heard them say, “Steve, this is the police. The Phoenix police.”
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If the person who called in the fake shooting was caught, a “swatting” offense only carries a misdemeanor charge for a first time offender.
A 12 News report shared that Anderson isn’t well perceived by the community due to his anti-homosexual preaching and showed a clip of a sermon where he said, “All homos are pedophiles,” and “No homos will ever be allowed in this church as long as I’m the pastor here.”
Anderson has racked up many viral videos on YouTube for his preaching antics, one of which he called a church member an “idiot” during a church service and kicked him out.
The church is also listed as a hate group on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Hate Map,” along with Alliance Defending Freedom.
In 2014, approximately 100 people peacefully protested outside the church a couple of weeks after Anderson told his congregation, “We can have an AIDS-free world by Christmas” if all gay people were executed. A video of the sermon has sense been removed by YouTube for violating their terms of service.
