Let's cut to the chase. First Amendment Auditors (FAA) are after one thing. That is "confrontation" or challenges to their activity. They do it for " clicks and views" on YouTube that generate advertising revenue. No confrontation, No YouTube video. No money. Where I live, FAA are treated as tresspassers if they are on our congregation property. They are told, they are tresspassing and must leave (They are told to leave...Not asked to leave). If they refuse to leave claiming their "First Amendement Right" , Law Enforcement is called and they are charged with "Tresspass after warning" The FAA may claim there are no "No Tresspassing Signs". They are told that signs are not required and that we are "agents" for the facility and we are telling them they are "tresspassing". FAA are never allowed entry into the building based on "disruption of worship".
Things to remember.
1) If FAA are on public property, ignore them.
2) Do not get into a confrontation with them.
3) If they are on facility property, calmly tell them they are tresspassing and must leave (not ask them to leave)
4) If they refuse, call Law Enforcement
5) Don't be "baited" by their comments. Limit your conversations with FAA
One important caveat......Always consider that these people might be surveiling the facility as part of a plan for future attack. TAKE A PICTURE OF THEM.
Great article! Always be kind and calm. Ignoring them is the best advice. If you feel you must interact with them, use that opportunity to see if they know our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Witness to them. That's still legal in Oklahoma. If they trespass or begin to do illegal things, stay calm, polite and call the police.
Now imagine the person who is doing the filming of the abortion clinic and the filming is being done from a public sidewalk. It would be interpreted as intimidation at a minimum, not free speech. It’s time we turn the tables on them as they are intimidating people in their exercise of their first amendment right to practice their religion
Disrupting a church service is illegal under **18 U.S. Code § 248**, which is part of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act). Specifically, this law prohibits the intentional interference with persons exercising their religious beliefs at a place of religious worship. This interference can include physical obstruction, threats of force, or other forms of INTIMIDATION that hinder someone from participating in their religious practices.
The relevant section of the statute states:
"Whoever, by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with, or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship; or intentionally damages or destroys the property of a place of religious worship, shall be subject to the penalties provided in subsection (b) and the civil remedies provided in subsection (c)."
Penalties under this statute can include fines and imprisonment, depending on the severity of the offense.
Somehow, they have absolutely no problem applying this law to abortion clinics, but not churches.
Filming public officials or staff is one thing. Private citizens or church attendees could be considered harassment / intimidation. In the end, walk away from bozos like this. Anything which can be recorded will be recorded and could be used against you. Walk away. This is part of our 'voyeuristic' culture where your privacy (or that of your family) is no longer taken into account.
I’m a State Licensed Armed Security Officer in uniform. I need to be very knowledgeable about what I say and how I act.
THE TIP: When I’m assigned a new location (religious or secular), one of the first thing I try to find out is where property lines and easements exist. Not every location has public sidewalks. It’s RARE anyone knows. If you don’t know about your church, try and find out, then write your Rules of Engagement Policy correctly.
Fort Worth PD had to standby and maintain the peace at one of our tourist areas (Stockyards) when "auditors" got confrontational with a religious group. This was last month at the height of tourist season so the auditors got lots of attention.
I gave my church's Sheepdogs and lead pastor a heads up about this so that they don't get caught off guard.
My advice was to set some simple rules and incorporate them into a policy and clear with legal and risk management folks but essentially prohibit disruptive behavior, confronting people, displaying signs without permission, etc. Applies to everyone and every cause. These auditors show up quietly and respectfully and don't bother anyone (which is NOT their M.O.) all good and maybe we can share testimony or something with a couple but if they become disruptive then we have the option of nicely asking them to leave with trespassing enforcement as a non-compliance consequence.
My city and neighboring cities in the San Francisco East Bay have been targeted by a group from the CA Central Valley. The same group is responsible for both the "First Amendment Audits" and the mass distribution of extremely vile antisemitic materials to driveways in the area. The group comes into town, does the FAA thing one day, spends the night in a local hotel, and distributes their hate materials the next day. Presumably they then move onto the next area, rinse and repeat. These are not Constitution-and-freedom-loving individuals but white supremacists. This info comes from my local PD who has met with the group.
This is to all law enforcement officers and sheriff deputies across the western USA.
Last Thursday night at about 10:30pm Dallas Police Officer Darren Burke and two other officers were shot and critically wounded in the line of duty. Officer Darren Burke was shot and killed a suspected gang member in the South Dallas neighborhood known as the Oak Cliff district. Officer Darren Burke was shot execution style while still in his patrol car. And later died from his injuries at Dallas area hospital on Thursday night August 29th, 2024.
For all those law enforcement officers who might be reading this post on the Christian Warrior Training - substack? Please keep the family members of this DPD officer Darren Burke and his fellow officers who were also critically wounded in the line of duty this past Thursday night? Thank You.
I worked in 911/Dispatch and Records of a police dept (pre body cam days). Auditors would purposely request things that I could not give them at the time of request, like unapproved reports, suspect's names. I pleasantly explained public record law back to them and said they could pick up their requests at the appropriate time.
There was a male who would creep around and video the perimeter and interactions of various PDs AFTER DARK to test the limits.
Our local church was visited by First Amendment auditors two years ago, and passed with flying colors. One of our pastors greeted them and made them welcome. I think we have a video of that somewhere, if still needed, and they too posted a video at the time - omitting some of our pastor's niceness to them.
Another local church was also reportedly visited by them, and didn't fare as well, but I have no details.
Our city is the only city in the county we live in which have a local ordinance that regardless of it is a private or public property, if it opens for public use, the protesters can come on the private property to do protesting. I know it is different than the 1st amendment auditors since they just ‘film’ for the click. But for such as this local ordinance, it is the worst and only the state of CA would do crazy thing like that.
By the way, if they film you, I watched some YouTube to suggest that to blast the some copyright sound, or say something like ‘oh, I forgot what I was going to say, can we take 2’ to act like they are staging the filming.
Jokes apart, don’t get sucked in to debate with them. They want clicks.
This stuff just makes me angry on several fronts. These people are not "journalists" in any way shape or form. They are infringers on constitutional rights of the 4th amendment of our right to privacy. Most of these turds simply do this as a way to collect intelligence and dox people. What makes me more angry is that our governments around the country are doing this very thing by installing cameras everywhere you go. Why? They say its to monitor traffic and for your safety. Its more about the surveillance state. I did not consent to being watched 24 x7 by my government and i certainly did not consent to them using our tax dollars to do it. These so called "auditors" are petulant children members of the "youth brigade"- nothing more. A prime example of what to do in cases like this is what happened in the state of PA. An antifa member went to a flag waving rally for Trump. He started filming everyone. So what was their response? A group of Men surrounded him with their flags so he couldn't film anything. Eventually he stepped over the line. The cops showed up, observed and arrested this guy. This is a form of non-violent response to these brown shirts. Too bad we have to get creative to get these children to leave us alone and be free from harassment!
Let's cut to the chase. First Amendment Auditors (FAA) are after one thing. That is "confrontation" or challenges to their activity. They do it for " clicks and views" on YouTube that generate advertising revenue. No confrontation, No YouTube video. No money. Where I live, FAA are treated as tresspassers if they are on our congregation property. They are told, they are tresspassing and must leave (They are told to leave...Not asked to leave). If they refuse to leave claiming their "First Amendement Right" , Law Enforcement is called and they are charged with "Tresspass after warning" The FAA may claim there are no "No Tresspassing Signs". They are told that signs are not required and that we are "agents" for the facility and we are telling them they are "tresspassing". FAA are never allowed entry into the building based on "disruption of worship".
Things to remember.
1) If FAA are on public property, ignore them.
2) Do not get into a confrontation with them.
3) If they are on facility property, calmly tell them they are tresspassing and must leave (not ask them to leave)
4) If they refuse, call Law Enforcement
5) Don't be "baited" by their comments. Limit your conversations with FAA
One important caveat......Always consider that these people might be surveiling the facility as part of a plan for future attack. TAKE A PICTURE OF THEM.
And that you find their presence intimidating makes it a violation of federal law! (See my comment below)
We need to start sending these people, cuffed, into the back of cop cars or they will just continue.
It’s flat out intimidation. This must be a zero tolerance issue.
Every single person in your congregation if they feel the slightest intimidated should press charges.
You can be sure they would be doing the same to us filming at an abortion clinic.
Great information! Be nice until it’s time not to be nice! Lol. Blessings!!!
Great article! Always be kind and calm. Ignoring them is the best advice. If you feel you must interact with them, use that opportunity to see if they know our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Witness to them. That's still legal in Oklahoma. If they trespass or begin to do illegal things, stay calm, polite and call the police.
Now imagine the person who is doing the filming of the abortion clinic and the filming is being done from a public sidewalk. It would be interpreted as intimidation at a minimum, not free speech. It’s time we turn the tables on them as they are intimidating people in their exercise of their first amendment right to practice their religion
Disrupting a church service is illegal under **18 U.S. Code § 248**, which is part of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act). Specifically, this law prohibits the intentional interference with persons exercising their religious beliefs at a place of religious worship. This interference can include physical obstruction, threats of force, or other forms of INTIMIDATION that hinder someone from participating in their religious practices.
The relevant section of the statute states:
"Whoever, by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with, or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship; or intentionally damages or destroys the property of a place of religious worship, shall be subject to the penalties provided in subsection (b) and the civil remedies provided in subsection (c)."
Penalties under this statute can include fines and imprisonment, depending on the severity of the offense.
Somehow, they have absolutely no problem applying this law to abortion clinics, but not churches.
Filming public officials or staff is one thing. Private citizens or church attendees could be considered harassment / intimidation. In the end, walk away from bozos like this. Anything which can be recorded will be recorded and could be used against you. Walk away. This is part of our 'voyeuristic' culture where your privacy (or that of your family) is no longer taken into account.
Another court case you may want to look at is Sheets vs. City of Punta Gorda. Limits the "Rights" of 1st Amenment Auditors.
Great article. Nothing to add. My only tip:
I’m a State Licensed Armed Security Officer in uniform. I need to be very knowledgeable about what I say and how I act.
THE TIP: When I’m assigned a new location (religious or secular), one of the first thing I try to find out is where property lines and easements exist. Not every location has public sidewalks. It’s RARE anyone knows. If you don’t know about your church, try and find out, then write your Rules of Engagement Policy correctly.
Fort Worth PD had to standby and maintain the peace at one of our tourist areas (Stockyards) when "auditors" got confrontational with a religious group. This was last month at the height of tourist season so the auditors got lots of attention.
I gave my church's Sheepdogs and lead pastor a heads up about this so that they don't get caught off guard.
My advice was to set some simple rules and incorporate them into a policy and clear with legal and risk management folks but essentially prohibit disruptive behavior, confronting people, displaying signs without permission, etc. Applies to everyone and every cause. These auditors show up quietly and respectfully and don't bother anyone (which is NOT their M.O.) all good and maybe we can share testimony or something with a couple but if they become disruptive then we have the option of nicely asking them to leave with trespassing enforcement as a non-compliance consequence.
My city and neighboring cities in the San Francisco East Bay have been targeted by a group from the CA Central Valley. The same group is responsible for both the "First Amendment Audits" and the mass distribution of extremely vile antisemitic materials to driveways in the area. The group comes into town, does the FAA thing one day, spends the night in a local hotel, and distributes their hate materials the next day. Presumably they then move onto the next area, rinse and repeat. These are not Constitution-and-freedom-loving individuals but white supremacists. This info comes from my local PD who has met with the group.
This wouldn't happen to be "Cry to God" is it? I dealt with them repeatedly as a cop in the East Bay.
This is to all law enforcement officers and sheriff deputies across the western USA.
Last Thursday night at about 10:30pm Dallas Police Officer Darren Burke and two other officers were shot and critically wounded in the line of duty. Officer Darren Burke was shot and killed a suspected gang member in the South Dallas neighborhood known as the Oak Cliff district. Officer Darren Burke was shot execution style while still in his patrol car. And later died from his injuries at Dallas area hospital on Thursday night August 29th, 2024.
For all those law enforcement officers who might be reading this post on the Christian Warrior Training - substack? Please keep the family members of this DPD officer Darren Burke and his fellow officers who were also critically wounded in the line of duty this past Thursday night? Thank You.
👮🏻👮🏻♀️👮🏿♂️🙏🏻✝️🕊️🛐🌹💔😢😭🚓🇺🇸💕
https://youtu.be/5dagdp8d27o?si=zf4rzzzY7K8afg4z
https://youtube.com/shorts/LDI_5XEL7Bo?si=_-tnTIhtRsMs_YzK
I worked in 911/Dispatch and Records of a police dept (pre body cam days). Auditors would purposely request things that I could not give them at the time of request, like unapproved reports, suspect's names. I pleasantly explained public record law back to them and said they could pick up their requests at the appropriate time.
There was a male who would creep around and video the perimeter and interactions of various PDs AFTER DARK to test the limits.
Thanks for this article. It never crossed my mind that this could happen out of the blue.
Our local church was visited by First Amendment auditors two years ago, and passed with flying colors. One of our pastors greeted them and made them welcome. I think we have a video of that somewhere, if still needed, and they too posted a video at the time - omitting some of our pastor's niceness to them.
Another local church was also reportedly visited by them, and didn't fare as well, but I have no details.
Found it! Here's their video of when they audited our church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvWIm9Fr4r8
And you guys got a plug at the end. “If you’re looking for a house of worship, this one could be the one for you.” That’s how it’s done.
Our city is the only city in the county we live in which have a local ordinance that regardless of it is a private or public property, if it opens for public use, the protesters can come on the private property to do protesting. I know it is different than the 1st amendment auditors since they just ‘film’ for the click. But for such as this local ordinance, it is the worst and only the state of CA would do crazy thing like that.
By the way, if they film you, I watched some YouTube to suggest that to blast the some copyright sound, or say something like ‘oh, I forgot what I was going to say, can we take 2’ to act like they are staging the filming.
Jokes apart, don’t get sucked in to debate with them. They want clicks.
This stuff just makes me angry on several fronts. These people are not "journalists" in any way shape or form. They are infringers on constitutional rights of the 4th amendment of our right to privacy. Most of these turds simply do this as a way to collect intelligence and dox people. What makes me more angry is that our governments around the country are doing this very thing by installing cameras everywhere you go. Why? They say its to monitor traffic and for your safety. Its more about the surveillance state. I did not consent to being watched 24 x7 by my government and i certainly did not consent to them using our tax dollars to do it. These so called "auditors" are petulant children members of the "youth brigade"- nothing more. A prime example of what to do in cases like this is what happened in the state of PA. An antifa member went to a flag waving rally for Trump. He started filming everyone. So what was their response? A group of Men surrounded him with their flags so he couldn't film anything. Eventually he stepped over the line. The cops showed up, observed and arrested this guy. This is a form of non-violent response to these brown shirts. Too bad we have to get creative to get these children to leave us alone and be free from harassment!