A Christian street evangelist with Prideless Ministries was physically attacked on a public sidewalk in downtown Seattle Thursday after preaching the Gospel and biblical teachings on homosexuality and sexual sin, according to video of the confrontation that has gone viral.
The incident unfolded near Pike Street and Pike Place Market on the afternoon of July 23. The preacher, a man in a brown shirt using a microphone and portable speaker, was openly sharing the Christian message of repentance when a tall man wearing a black Dallas Mavericks Luka Dončić No. 77 jersey aggressively confronted him.
Video shows the man in the jersey closing the distance, yelling at the preacher to stop or move to another corner, claiming in one exchange, “We’re Christian, say something else,” and later threatening, “I’m slapping you again.”
The confrontation quickly turned physical. The aggressor shoved and struck the preacher, knocking him to the ground as bystanders watched. Someone can be heard shouting “Hey police!” while the attacker walked away calmly.
The preacher remained composed throughout, continuing to speak into the microphone. “I’m not going anywhere,” he declared while on the sidewalk, emphasizing the message of Jesus Christ.In a follow-up post on Instagram under the Prideless Ministries account, the preacher confirmed the motivation behind the assault and responded with a call for prayer rather than retaliation.
“There is a cost for winning souls,” he wrote. “Please don’t watch this video with anger toward the man who attacked me for preaching about lgbt. Instead, pray for him. Pray that God would open his eyes, grant him repentance, and save him through the grace of Jesus Christ. The same Lord who saved me is able to save him.”
He added that the encounter was part of a larger spiritual battle and cited Scripture: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” — 2 Timothy 3:12.The preacher, who identifies as having been rescued by God from homosexuality, drug addiction, and homelessness, runs Prideless Ministries as a street-level evangelism effort focused on calling people to repentance and sharing his personal testimony of transformation through the Gospel. His ministry frequently operates in Seattle, including near Pride events and high-traffic areas, emphasizing that the message is offered in love for the lost.
Seattle Police Department was called to the scene, and authorities are believed to be reviewing the widely circulated footage. As of Friday, there were no public reports of an arrest or identification of the man in the jersey. No serious injuries to the preacher have been reported.
The video, originally shared by Prideless Ministries and amplified by accounts including British minister Rikki Doolan, has drawn widespread attention online. Doolan described the attack as evidence that “the radical left are ready to commit assault, even murder, to stop the truth from being spoken,” framing it as part of a broader hostility toward open proclamation of Christian doctrine on sexuality.
The episode fits a pattern of confrontations involving street preachers in Seattle, a city with a long history of tensions over public religious expression. Previous cases, including those involving Pastor Matthew Meinecke, have reached the federal courts, where the Ninth Circuit has ruled that police cannot silence preachers simply because their message provokes hostile reactions from onlookers, a principle known as rejecting the “heckler’s veto.”
Conservative commentators and free-speech advocates have pointed to the video as another example of selective tolerance in progressive strongholds: peaceful open-air preaching met with physical force, while the aggressor faces no immediate visible consequences. The preacher’s response, urging prayer and forgiveness, has been widely praised by supporters as modeling Christian character under fire.
Seattle remains one of the most secular major cities in America, and street evangelists with amplification have long drawn complaints from residents, sports teams, and event organizers. Yet First Amendment protections for religious speech on public sidewalks remain firmly established. Whether this latest assault results in charges will test how seriously local authorities treat violence against those exercising that right.
