Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) lashed out at critics of the church he pastors evicting tenants during the pandemic for being less than $30 behind on rent. The pastor said they are attacking “the church of Jesus Christ.”
His shocking statement continued as he blamed their motivation on the “rulers of the darkness in this world.”
Warnock faces increasing criticism after it was revealed that his church, which he called “the spiritual home of Martin Luther King Jr.,” is in the process of evicting residents during COVID-19.
On Sunday, the senior pastor railed against the people he described as having “the unmitigated audacity to attack the church.” And while he did not identify the specific people, suspects are easy to recognize.
One is the Georgia secretary of state’s office, which just two days before his sermon revealed it is looking into filing a formal subpoena on Ebenezer Baptist Church’s charity. The agency cited the organization’s failure to cooperate with an investigation into its charity registration.
Context: The apartment owned by Warnock's church is currently trying to evict 7 residents, two for just $115 in past-due rent.
Warnock has made no apparent effort to ask the building administrator, Columbia Residential, to put a stop to its aggressive eviction practices. https://t.co/0IOzAu7mfl
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) November 15, 2022
The other is likely Warnock’s opponent for his U.S. Senate seat. Republican Herschel Walker last week began the “Evict Warnock Bus Tour” across the state leading up to the Dec. 6 runoff between the two.
Walker appeared at the controversy-laden Columbia Tower near downtown Atlanta last month and told supporters that he offered to assist tenants come up with late rent and avoid being evicted.
The candidate told the audience that they have a “senator who wants to put people out.” Walker asked where in Matthew 25 “does it say that you can evict people who are struggling?”
Warnock’s representatives responded that, although evictions may have been filed, they have not been carried out. In a statement, they asserted that the pastor and senator “has nothing to do with its day-to-day operations.”
At present, records from the Fulton County Magistrate Court reportedly show that seven residents are in the process of being evicted. Two of them face being out of a place to live for only $115 in rent that’s past due.
It is noteworthy that Ebenezer pays Sen. Warnock $7,417 per month in a tax-free housing allowance. It’s the church’s charity, the Ebenezer Building Foundation, that faces scrutiny and a possible subpoena from the state government.
