Man Who Harassed Ambler Church For Decrying White Supremacy Is Charged

AMBLER, PA — A man has been charged for allegedly harassing multiple area churches, including one in Montgomery County, that stood up publicly against white supremacy.

Joseph Baird, 41, of Philadelphia, has been charged for harassing and threatening comments made to pastors at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Audubon, New Jersey, and St. John's Lutheran Church in Ambler, according to court documents.

According to NBC Philadelphia, Baird initially responded to a blog post written by St. John's pastor, Rev. Rachel Anderson, entitled "Against White Supremacy."

"So often, the church prays for peace, while we do not act to create peace," Anderson wrote in the post, in the wake of the Charlottesville, Va. tragedy in August. "We fear taking sides, nodding along that the blame belongs to 'many sides.'"

Baird allegedly posted numerous threatening photos and comments online relating to the Ambler church, at one point describing its location as "Not too far from Valley Forge Valley Forge KKK territory," the NBC report states.

The link with the church in New Jersey came from Rev. Ryan Paetzold, the pastor at Holy Trinity Lutheran, who supported Anderson's blog post on his own social media page.

Baird then reportedly began reposting numerous photos from Paetzold's personal Facebook page, including one of his pregnant wife, along with harassing and threatening white supremacist remarks.

Baird's preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 27, court documents show.

Read the report from NBC's Brian X. McCrone here.

Patch file photo