Jeff Sessions Interrupted In Boston At Religious Liberty Event

BOSTON — Two pastors and a protester were escorted out of a Boston religious freedom event, during which Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that left 11 people dead, not just an attack on the Jewish faith, but “an attack on all people of faith."

Sessions’ remarks came during a luncheon hosted by the Boston chapter of the Federalist Society on protecting religious freedom, Monday. The event came two days after the Pittsburgh massacre, which is largely believed to be the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history.

As Sessions began his remarks, the Methodist and former Republican senator from Alabama was interrupted by a pastor who quoted the New Testament and asked about protection for immigrants, before he was shouted down and escorted out by police.

“I was hungry and you did not feed me. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. I was naked and you did not clothe me,” the protester quoted from the Book of Matthew.

“Father Jeff, as a fellow United Methodist, I call upon you to repent, to care for those in need, to remember that when you do not care for others you are wounding the body of Christ,” said Will Green a United Methodist Pastor of the Ballard Vale United Church in Andover, according to ABC News footage of the event.

When Darrell Hamilton of the First Baptist Church in JP stood up to continue, he, too, was escorted out, according to reports.

The Globe reported a third protester stood up from a wheelchair near the end of the event and shouted about transgender rights before he, too was wheeled out.

When Sessions spoke about the attack in Pittsburgh he said the Justice Department would pursue the case against Jeff Bowers, who is accused of the massacres, with “vigor and integrity,” and indicated Bowers could face the death penalty.

“This was not just an attack on the Jewish faith. It was an attack on all people of faith. And it was an attack on America’s values of protecting those of faith. It cannot — and it will not — be tolerated,” said Sessions.

In the days that have followed the tragedy at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh Saturday, towns and cities across the country are showing their solidarity through vigils and gatherings, and stepping up security at synagogues, including in Boston.

- Associated Press reporting was also used in this article.

Photo credit: Rev. Darrell Hamilton, front left, a pastor at First Baptist Church, in Boston, is escorted away by Boston police after interrupting remarks by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, behind right, at a luncheon organized by the Boston Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society, Monday, Oct. 29, 2018, in Boston. Sessions spoke about religious liberty during his remarks. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)