In this 1 June 2007 file photo, Rev Michael Pfleger, left, of Saint Sabina Catholic church is seen with Rev Jesse Jackson in Chicago.
The Guardian
A Catholic priest on Chicago’s South Side claims he has received death threats from gun-rights advocates following a weekend rally in front of a local gun shop that authorities say is the number one supplier of guns recovered from crime scenes in the city.
Father Michael Pfleger, the pastor of Saint Sabina church, says the threats originate from social media posts and internal emails from the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA), an affiliate of the wider National Rifle Association (NRA), and its supporters which are calling Pfleger a “terrorist” and likening him and similar advocates to Isis, the terrorist organisation also known as Islamic State.
The threats escalated last weekend when Pfleger led about 300 people in front of Chuck’s Gun Shop & Pistol Range in suburban Riverdale, an effort in coordination with the Brady Centre to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington. NRA members staged a counter-protest. According to Pfleger, local police barred his assembly from entering the shop door to meet with its owner and forced them to walk back and forth between two assembled NRA groups where they were verbally threatened. He also says he received many threatening emails and phone calls at his church before and after the event.
Rich Pearson, the ISRA executive director, says he stands by his effort to label Pfleger a “terrorist”.
“You have to call him what he is. He’s an anti-gun terrorist, he’s trying to destroy businesses, he’s trying to prevent people from having the right of self-defence,” Pearson says.
According to local media reports, an internal email sent to ISRA members painted Pfleger as delivering “frothy-lipped lunacy” and suggested that “few will forget Pfleger’s rant in front of Chucks several years ago when he called for the Isis-style murders of gun shop owners and elected officials who support gun rights.”
Pearson says the Isis reference is connected to comments Pfleger made several years ago when he suggested he wanted to “snuff out” state legislators and gun shop owners who refuse to concede to stronger gun control measures. Pfleger admits he used the phrase, but says he intended to say he wanted to “sniff out” where gun rights advocates live to suggest it is not the inner city where their actions have the severest consequences.
“They keep trying to go back to that [statement], but it is their manipulation of the word without putting it into the context of the sentence,” he said. “If you want to own a gun, fine, but for God’s sake, put some responsibility on the ownership.”
