BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Local conservative Pastor confronted at 'No Kings' event
- The 'Day of Action' protest at the Liberty Bell in downtown Bakersfield brought out an estimated 1,000+ people
- Organizers call it a mass mobilization in response to the President's quote, "increasing authoritarian excesses
- 'NO KINGS' sent a press release, in which they expressed a "firm commitment to nonviolent action
Local Pastor Angelo Frazier is well-known in the local community, not only for his weekly sermons, but his political activism. He can always be found at local protests and demonstrations wearing his trademark red, white, and blue shirt, MAGA hat, and carrying an American flag. He's not very vocal, unless he's being interviewed for his conservative views by the media.
23ABC cameras captured part of the moment when a handful of demonstrators confronted Frazier in the median of Truxtun Ave across from the Liberty Bell, and started hurling obscenities and threats.
He joined Mike Hart on Good Morning Kern County to talk about the incident.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Mike: More than 1000 people, by some estimates, gathered in downtown Bakersfield Saturday to protest immigration enforcement and policies by the Trump administration. And in the middle of all of it was Pastor Angelo Frazier, a well-known conservative figure. He joins us in Studio B this morning. Thank you for coming in. I appreciate it. --
Angelo: Good to see you, Mike.
Mike: You're well-known at these events, whatever the event is, and tell me your impressions when you showed up Saturday. Were you recognized right away?
Angelo: No, no, I was when I got out of my car, I could hear the names that were being called, uh, and you know, fascists and other things were going on. I was like, woo, you know, I saw a lot of American flags, so I thought this was gonna be, uh, you know, basically generally friendly territory, uh, here, especially on the median, and the closer I got to it, it wasn't.
Um, I noticed down in in LA there were a lot of uh foreign flags down there and I think some of the script has been flipped today so they have American flags, but they, they, they were just as angry and down with America, you know, a lot of F-bombs and things like that, and I hadn't even gotten over there yet. I'm thinking, boy, this is going to be interesting.
Mike: When you show up at these events traditionally, when you have gone in the past and whatnot, uh, sometimes there are more conservative voices that. Go up, you know, in a bigger group. You don't typically say much out there when you're doing it.
Angelo: I will probably go to observe. Look, I love this city. I've, I've been here for 30 years. I, I, I love the differences of opinion. I wanna go here for myself, what's really going on. And not to have it filtered to me necessarily, but just to listen and see if I can talk with somebody. I know someone. I don't, I, I, it's OK to disagree.
Mike: Well, you're a very well-known figure. Did anyone walk up to you who knew you, because there is a moment that was captured on video where you were sort of approached, surrounded almost by several individuals. Did you get the feeling they knew who you were?
Angelo: No, because they were calling me names that uh, one of the guys said an African American, go home. And I was like, well, this is my home, you know, what are you talking about? Um, I didn't hear any Chaplain Frasier or Pastor or anything like that or Angelo. I, I, I heard slurs coming at me, and they were vitriolic. They were, they were hyped up I, and I was really surprised that that it was directed towards me, um, and, uh, that I somehow represent their frustration.
Mike: Uh, coming out of it as it ended, did you stay for the entire thing, or did you, once that started, did you make your way out?
Angelo: Well -- I stayed -- there, for a little bit, and then a friend of mine joined me for about 10 minutes, and then he felt uncomfortable, and he said, you know, we, we need to get out of here. So I, I, I left with him.
Mike: We saw that video earlier, uh, in the story that ran, uh, there was a lot of emotion. There was a lot of intensity there and whatnot. How did it differ from previous events that you've been to? Previous,
Angelo: I think it seemed to be anger and misguided focus, wrong information directed at the person of the president rather than the policies of the president. Now they were saying from the stage, I could hear the voices. This is a peaceful protest and those kinds of things, but at the same time, a guy was running up and down the street burning an American, burning a Trump hat, and dragging the American flag, and the crowd was cheering that on. So it's kind of two things happening at once, not that they were sanctioning it. They were saying this was peaceful, but at the same time, the crowd was cheering for the negative behavior that was going on.
Mike: Will any of this be part of your sermon this Sunday?
Angelo: Well, I'll talk about what I'm preaching on Jobe. I'll talk about the struggles of our nation.
Mike: All right, Pastor Angelo Frazier, thanks for coming in this morning. Thank you. All right.
Clarification: When Frazier said burning an American, he was talking about the hat that he videotaped being set on fire, and the flag he said was being dragged on the ground.
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