Bomb explodes at California church known for anti-LGBTQ views

The FBI and local authorities are investigating a bomb attack Saturday morning at a church in Los Angeles County that had recently been the target of protests for its extreme anti-LGBTQ views.

Police responded to reports of an explosion at the church, First Works Baptist Church, in El Monte, California, just after 1 a.m. Saturday.

An “improvised explosive device” was found to be the source of the attack, said Chief David Reynoso of the Police Department in El Monte, which is about 13 miles west of Los Angeles. Officials did not elaborate on what they found.

No one was in the church at the time, and no injuries were reported. Authorities found obscenities and the words “get out” spray-painted on the front of the church, Reynoso said.

Laura Eimiller, a spokesperson with the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said no one had been taken into custody and that it was too early to determine a motive behind the bombing. “We have not ruled anything out,” she said.

Eimiller said bomb technicians from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office were working with the FBI and its evidence response team to assess the damage.

Reynoso said the church had broken windows but, structurally, the building “does not appear to be damaged.”

About two weeks ago, Bruce Mejia, pastor of the church, reported to the police that it had received an arson threat on social media, Reynoso said.

The church had been the target of protests, and more than 14,000 people have signed an online petition calling on El Monte’s mayor to recognize the church as a hate group and “take them out of our city.”

“In no way can we say anyone related to the demonstrations is involved or responsible for this crime,” Reynoso said. “We don’t know the motive at this point.”

First Works Baptist Church was founded in 2017, according to its website.

It is part of the New Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement, a network of 22 US and eight international churches known for their hateful rhetoric and calls for the government to round up and execute gay people, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit that analyzes hate groups, reported in 2019.

Mejia is an outspoken acolyte of the network’s leader, Steven Anderson, an Arizona pastor who has drawn widespread condemnation for celebrating the 2016 shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people were killed, the SPLC said.

Anderson also gained notoriety in 2009 for saying in a sermon that he had prayed for the death of President Barack Obama, and was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League in 2014 for what it called his “history of anti-Semitism.”

Calls and an email to Anderson’s church were not immediately returned, and efforts to reach Mejia on Saturday were unsuccessful.

Mejia and Anderson were among a number of church leaders who spoke at a “Make America Straight Again” conference in Orlando in 2019, two days after the third anniversary of the massacre at Pulse, according to the SPLC.

At the conference, Mejia called on the authorities to carry out a mass execution of LGBTQ people, according to the SPLC.

“We don’t advocate Christians to go out and be vigilantes,” and kill gay people, he said, according to the SPLC. “We want the government to do it.”

Mejia also spoke of “waging war against the sodomites,” and ripped a rainbow flag in half, yelling, “I’m so sick and tired of them parading this thing around us,” to loud cheers from the audience, according to the SPLC.

On Saturday, Keep El Monte Friendly, which had organized protests against the church, said on Instagram that it was “in profound shock” and hoped that no one had been hurt. It said it had canceled a protest at the church that was planned for Sunday.

“Our movement was intended to bring light and awareness to the hateful rhetoric taught by this group,” the statement said. “We understand that what they preach can make people upset. However, we would never promote, encourage or condone any violence or acts of harm.”

The city’s mayor, Jessica Ancona, said the bombing was “highly concerning” and called for a full investigation.

“We are a city that cares and protects all its residents and visitors,” she said on Twitter. “We respect and uphold the laws that protect each one of us, regardless of who we are.”