Community Corner
Christian Haunted House Canceled Over Gay Nightclub Shooting Scenes
The event was to be held over the weekend at a Far South Side elementary school until Chicago Publc Schools backed out.
CHICAGO, IL — Chicago Public Schools refused to let a Far South Side elementary school host a Christian haunted house that had planned a "horror" room depicting the mass shooting this summer at a gay nightclub in Florida, according to Windy City Times.
"The Room: A Journey to Hell" had been set to be held over the weekend at Fernwood Elementary School in the Washington Heights neighborhood, but CPS would not allow the school to be used for the event after it was informed about the content of some of the rooms, the report said. A CPS spokesman told Windy City Times that the school district had been misled by the organizers concerning the details of the haunted house.
"The event organizers mischaracterized the true content of the event, and we did not approve any association with the activities the organizers have now advertised," the spokesman said.
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Tyrone Tappler Productions, the event's promoter, touted The Room as a "Christian interactive experience" that depicted "in your face scenes of dark reality," the Windy City Times reports.
"You will walk in 10 Rooms and encounter individuals who will make choices," said an ad promoting the event, according to the LGBT weekly. "The choice is life or death; sin or salvation; heaven or hell. The scenes will be action-packed, real and jaw dropping."
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An Aug. 31 Facebook update by the organizers asked for volunteers to participate in a scene that would re-enact the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, the report stated. Forty-nine people were killed and 53 wounded in the June 12 incident.
"Club Pulse, Dancers, Victims … CAGED PEOPLE/SCREAMERS, Extras needed trying to escape a cage! … SOUNDS INTERESTING? COME OUT THIS SATURDAY!!!" the Facebook update stated, according to Windy City Times.
The event's promoter also planned another room to include a re-creation of the 2015 church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, the report stated.
Photo via Pixabay
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