Tag Archives: Washington D.C.

Five people suspected of shooting at police arrested in Washington DC

(Reuters) – Five people suspected of shooting at police officers before barricading themselves inside a vehicle in Washington D.C. were arrested on Tuesday, police said.

No one was reported injured in the incident, which took place days after five police officers were fatally shot during a demonstration in Dallas to protest at police violence against black men and other minorities.

In the incident in Washington D.C., officers in marked patrol cars were responding to reports of gunshots just after midnight in the southeast of the city when at least one person inside a parked SUV opened fire on the patrol cars, a spokeswoman with the Metropolitan Police Department said.

The officers returned fire, the spokeswoman said, and the five suspects – three women and two men – hid inside the vehicle during a 30-minute standoff before surrendering.

It was not immediately clear why the suspects fired at police or what criminal charges they might face.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Shots fired in Capitol complex, gunman caught

US Washington DC Capitol

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A police officer may have been injured by shrapnel on Monday in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center when a man fired a gun, media reports and congressional sources said.

There was confusion in early accounts about what occurred but police said a suspect was taken into custody with wounds after shots were fired.

MSNBC-TV reported that an officer who fired at an armed suspect may have been injured by shrapnel. Police said the suspect was taken to hospital. The officer did not identify or describe the suspect and he added that there were no additional suspects.

A U.S. government official told Reuters that initial reports were that a suspect walked into the Visitors Center, pointed a gun at one of the police officers on duty and a shootout erupted.

The official said no evidence had materialized of a connection to terrorism.

Separately, CNN reported that a person tried to gain entry into the White House but was caught.

Congress is in recess, with few lawmakers in Washington but the shooting happened just a few hours after a drill for an active shooter took place at the Capitol, creating further confusion.

The Secret Service temporarily cleared tourists from an area surrounding the White House after the incident, but activities quickly went back to normal. Capitol Hill was placed in lockdown immediately after the shooting but was later lifted.

Cathryn Leff, a licensed therapist, tweeted that she was at the visitor’s center when she heard gunshots while going through a security check point.

“That moment when it goes down . Everyone is screaming & running and you can’t see where the #ShotsFired are from,” tweeted Leff(@Cathrynlefflmft).

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Susan Cornwell, Roberta Rampton and Susan Heavey; editing by Grant McCool)

Special Report: Exposed – Beijing’s cover global radio network

Photo courtesy of Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

By Koh Gui Qing and John Shiffman

BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In August, foreign ministers from 10 nations blasted China for building artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. As media around the world covered the diplomatic clash, a radio station that serves the most powerful city in America had a distinctive take on the news.

Located outside Washington, D.C., WCRW radio made no mention of China’s provocative island project. Instead, an analyst explained that tensions in the region were due to unnamed “external forces” trying “to insert themselves into this part of the world using false claims.”

Behind WCRW’s coverage is a fact that’s never broadcast: The Chinese government controls much of what airs on the station, which can be heard on Capitol Hill and at the White House.

WCRW is just one of a growing number of stations across the world through which Beijing is broadcasting China-friendly news and programming.

A Reuters investigation spanning four continents has identified at least 33 radio stations in 14 countries that are part of a global radio web structured in a way that obscures its majority shareholder: state-run China Radio International, or CRI.

Many of these stations primarily broadcast content created or supplied by CRI or by media companies it controls in the United States, Australia and Europe. Three Chinese expatriate businessmen, who are CRI’s local partners, run the companies and in some cases own a stake in the stations. The network reaches from Finland to Nepal to Australia, and from Philadelphia to San Francisco.

At WCRW, Beijing holds a direct financial interest in the Washington station’s broadcasts. Corporate records in the United States and China show a Beijing-based subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned radio broadcaster owns 60 percent of an American company that leases almost all of the station’s airtime.

China has a number of state-run media properties, such as the Xinhua news agency, that are well-known around the world. But American officials charged with monitoring foreign media ownership and propaganda said they were unaware of the Chinese-controlled radio operation inside the United States until contacted by Reuters. A half-dozen former senior U.S. officials said federal authorities should investigate whether the arrangement violates laws governing foreign media and agents in the United States.

 

“SERIOUS INQUIRY”

A U.S. law enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) prohibits foreign governments or their representatives from holding a radio license for a U.S. broadcast station. Under the Communications Act, foreign individuals, governments and corporations are permitted to hold up to 20 percent ownership directly in a station and up to 25 percent in the U.S. parent corporation of a station.

CRI itself doesn’t hold ownership stakes in U.S. stations, but it does have a majority share via a subsidiary in the company that leases WCRW in Washington and a Philadelphia station with a similarly high-powered signal.

Said former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt: “If there were allegations made about de facto Chinese government ownership of radio stations, then I’m sure the FCC would investigate.”

U.S. law also requires anyone inside the United States seeking to influence American policy or public opinion on behalf of a foreign government or group to register with the Department of Justice. Public records show that CRI’s U.S. Chinese-American business partner and his companies haven’t registered as foreign agents under the law, called the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA.

“I would make a serious inquiry under FARA into a company rebroadcasting Chinese government propaganda inside the United States without revealing that it is acting on behalf of, or it’s owned or controlled by China,” said D.E. “Ed” Wilson Jr., a former senior White House and Treasury Department official.

CRI headquarters in Beijing and the Chinese embassy in Washington declined to make officials available for interviews or to comment on the findings of this article.

Justice Department national security spokesman Marc Raimondi and FCC spokesman Neil Grace declined to comment.

Other officials at the FCC said the agency receives so many license applications that it only launches a probe if it receives a complaint. People familiar with the matter said no such complaint has been lodged with the FCC about the CRI-backed network in the United States.

 

BUILDING “SOFT POWER”

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has chafed at a world order he sees as dominated by the United States and its allies, is aware that China struggles to project its views in the international arena.

“We should increase China’s soft power, give a good Chinese narrative and better communicate China’s message to the world,” Xi said in a policy address in November last year, according to Xinhua.

CRI head Wang Gengnian has described Beijing’s messaging effort as the “borrowed boat” strategy – using existing media outlets in foreign nations to carry Chinese propaganda.

The 33 radio stations backed by CRI broadcast in English, Chinese or local languages, offering a mix of news, music and cultural programs. Newscasts are peppered with stories highlighting China’s development, such as its space program, and its contribution to humanitarian causes, including earthquake relief in Nepal.

“We are not the evil empire that some Western media portray us to be,” said a person close to the Communist Party leadership in Beijing who is familiar with the CRI network. “Western media reports about China are too negative. We just want to improve our international image. It’s self-protection.”

In some ways, the CRI-backed radio stations fulfill a similar advocacy role to that of the U.S.-run Voice of America. But there is a fundamental difference: VOA openly publishes the fact that it receives U.S. government funding. CRI is using front companies that cloak its role.

A few of the programs broadcast in the United States cite reports from CRI, but most don’t. One program, The Beijing Hour, says it is “brought to you by China Radio International.”

Some shows are slick, others lack polish. While many segments are indistinguishable from mainstream American radio shows, some include announcers speaking English with noticeable Chinese accents.

The production values vary because the broadcasts are appealing to three distinct audiences: first-generation Chinese immigrants with limited English skills; second-generation Chinese curious about their ancestral homeland; and non-Chinese listeners whom Beijing hopes to influence.

One thing the programs have in common: They generally ignore criticism of China and steer clear of anything that casts Beijing in a negative light.

A top-of-the-hour morning newscast on Oct. 15, broadcast in Washington and other U.S. cities, was identified only as “City News.” It reported that U.S. officials were concerned about cyber attacks, including one in which the personal information of about 20 million American government workers was allegedly stolen. The broadcast left out a key element: It has been widely reported that U.S. officials believe China was behind that hack.

Last year, as thousands of protesters demanding free elections paralyzed Hong Kong for weeks, the news on CRI-backed stations in the United States presented China’s point of view. A report the day after the protests ended did not explain why residents were on the streets and carried no comments from protest leaders. The demonstrations, a report said, had “failed without the support of the people in Hong Kong.”

Many of these stations do not run ads and so do not appear to be commercially motivated.

 

THREE SURROGATES

Around the world, corporate records show, CRI’s surrogates use the same business structure. The three Chinese businessmen in partnership with Beijing have each created a domestic media company that is 60 percent owned by a Beijing-based group called Guoguang Century Media Consultancy. Guoguang, in turn, is wholly owned by a subsidiary of CRI, according to Chinese company filings.

The three companies span the globe:

• In Europe, GBTimes of Tampere, Finland, has an ownership stake in or provides content to at least nine stations, according to interviews and an examination of company filings.

• In Asia-Pacific, Global CAMG Media Group of Melbourne, Australia, has an ownership stake in or supplies programming to at least eight stations, according to corporate records.

• And in North America, G&E Studio Inc, near Los Angeles, California, broadcasts content nearly full time on at least 15 U.S. stations. A station in Vancouver also broadcasts G&E content. In addition to distributing CRI programming, G&E produces and distributes original Beijing-friendly shows from its California studios.

In a Sept. 16 interview at his offices near Los Angeles, G&E president and CEO James Su confirmed that CRI subsidiary Guoguang Century Media holds a majority stake in his company and that he has a contract with the Chinese broadcaster. He said that a non-disclosure agreement bars him from divulging details.

Su said he complies with U.S. laws. G&E doesn’t own stations, but rather leases the airtime on them. “It’s like a management company that manages a condominium,” he said.

Su added that he is a businessman, not an agent for China. “Our U.S. audience and our U.S. public has the choice,” Su said. “They can choose to listen or not listen. I think this is an American value.”

GBTimes CEO Zhao Yinong, who spearheads the European arm of the expatriate radio operation, confirmed that he receives several million euros a year from CRI. In an interview in Beijing, Zhao said he was “not interested in creating a false China” and he had “nothing to hide.”

Tommy Jiang, the head of CAMG, the Australian-based company that owns and operates stations in the Asia-Pacific region, declined to comment.

 

BORN IN A CAVE

CRI has grown remarkably since its founding in 1941. According to its English-language website, its first broadcast was aired from a cave, and the news reader had to frighten away wolves with a flashlight. Today, CRI says it broadcasts worldwide in more than 60 languages and Chinese dialects.

CRI content is carefully scripted, with the treatment of sensitive topics such as the banned Falun Gong spiritual group adhering strictly to the government line. Those restrictions might make China’s soft-power push an uphill battle with audiences in places like Houston, Rome or Auckland.

But CRI does have something to offer station owners. Since 2010, CRI’s broadcast partner in the United States has struck deals that bailed out struggling community radio stations, either by purchasing them outright or paying tens of thousands of dollars a month to lease virtually all their airtime. The latter is known as “time-brokering” and is the method G&E used to take to the air in Washington.

The 195-foot towers broadcasting Beijing’s agenda throughout the Washington region are located in suburban Loudoun County, Virginia, near Dulles International Airport. They pump out a 50,000-watt signal, the maximum for an AM station in the United States.

The towers went live in 2011. In the previous five decades, before the Chinese got involved, the station was known as WAGE, and it used smaller equipment and broadcast mostly local news and talk.

At just 5,000 watts, the signal didn’t carry far. This didn’t matter much until the 1990s, when Loudoun County boomed into a bedroom community for Washington. Commuters would lose the signal halfway to the capital.

In 2005, an American company called Potomac Radio LLC purchased the station and added some nationally syndicated programming. Potomac Radio president Alan Pendleton said his company had a history of leasing time to ethnic programmers, including an hour a day to CRI on another station. Revenue at WAGE continued to fall, however, and in 2009, it went off the air.

“It was a painful, painful experience,” said Pendleton. “We were losing millions of dollars a year down the drain.”

 

LOUDOUN COUNTY’S “LAST HOPE”

Saying they hoped to resurrect the station, other Potomac Radio executives asked Loudoun County in 2009 for permission to erect three broadcast towers on land owned by a county utility, records show. The new towers would boost the station’s signal tenfold to 50,000 watts, reaching into Washington.

In their application, Potomac Radio executives argued that the new towers offered the “last hope to retain Loudoun County’s only” radio station. The paperwork made no mention of plans to lease airtime to Su and CRI.

Potomac Radio also invoked the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a day when the station provided “critical information to county businesses and parents” as mobile phone service became overloaded. The new towers would contribute to public safety, proponents said.

The county Board of Supervisors approved the towers. In the days before the station came back on air in April 2011, Potomac Radio sought FCC permission to change the name to WCRW.

Asked about the initials, Pendleton confirmed that they stand for China Radio Washington. The change was his idea, not CRI’s, he said.

Loudoun County officials were surprised when the amped-up station returned as WCRW and began broadcasting G&E and CRI content about China.

“It was all very deceptive,” said Kelly Burk, a county supervisor at the time. “They presented it as all about being about local radio, and never let on what they were really up to.”

Potomac Radio’s Pendleton said there was no deception. His company was approached by CRI several months after the county approved the towers, he said.

Pendleton said he didn’t know that G&E was 60 percent owned by a subsidiary of the Chinese government until Reuters informed him. But the arrangement complies with FCC law, he said, because G&E leases the airwaves instead of owning the station.

In any event, he said, CRI is open about its goals: to present a window into Chinese culture and offer Chinese points of view on international affairs.

“If you listen to other state-sponsored broadcasters,” especially Russia’s, “they’re really insidious,” Pendleton said. “CRI’s not like that at all.”

Pendleton said he has no input in WCRW content: He simply rebroadcasts whatever programs arrive from CRI’s man in America, G&E founder James Su.

 

CHINA’S “PROXY”

James Yantao Su was born in Shanghai in 1970, the year China launched its first satellite. He moved to the United States in 1989, he said, ultimately settling in West Covina, a suburb of Los Angeles, and became a U.S. citizen.

By the early 2000s, Su was a moderately successful media entrepreneur. But after his 2009 deal to create G&E, in which the Chinese state-owned subsidiary has a majority stake, his fortunes rose.

Today, the 44-year-old owns or co-owns real estate and radio stations worth more than $15 million, according to a Reuters analysis of U.S. corporate, property, tax and FCC records. His projects include English and Chinese-language stations, a magazine, a newspaper, four apartment buildings, condos at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, a film festival and a charity that last year donated $230,000 to an orphanage in China.

Two of his primary companies are G&E Studio and EDI Media Inc. G&E dedicated a page on its website to showcase CRI as a “close” partner, but it recently deleted the page after Reuters made inquiries. EDI’s site says it has become “China’s outward media and advertising proxy” in the United States.

In 2013, the Chinese government presented Su with a special contribution award at a media event for Chinese broadcasters.

Other ties are not as visible: The key disclosure that G&E is 60 percent owned by Guoguang Century – the Beijing firm that’s 100 percent owned by CRI – is contained in a footnote in a lengthy FCC filing made on behalf of another Su company, Golden City Broadcast, LLC.

Su declined to discuss his business career in detail. An early highlight, though, was a speech he gave in 2003, when he was in his early thirties.

Covered by China’s state-run media, the speech laid out Su’s vision for a business that could be profitable and also help China project its message in the United States. The business would need to be structured to comply with U.S. ownership laws and would “endorse China’s ideology,” Su was quoted as saying.

In the same speech, he spoke of his fellow expats’ affinity for China. “The sense of belonging to China among countrymen residing abroad and their endorsement of China’s current policies grow with each day,” Su said, according to Xinhua.

In 2008, Su gave an address in which he criticized U.S. media for focusing their China coverage on issues such as human rights.

The media were misleading “the American masses’ objective understanding of China, even engendering hostile emotions,” Su said, according to a China National Radio report.

It was in 2009 that Su’s vision really began to take shape. That year, records show, Su created G&E Studio.

 

“UNFILTERED REAL NEWS”

G&E now broadcasts in English and Chinese on at least 15 U.S. stations, including Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Houston, Honolulu and Portland, Oregon.

The content is largely the same on each station, produced either by CRI from Beijing or by G&E from California.

A typical hour on most stations begins with a short newscast that can toggle between China news and stories about violent crimes in the United States. Besides the overtly political coverage, topics range from global currency fluctuations and Chinese trade missions to celebrity wardrobe analysis and modern parenting challenges.

While Su owns a minority share of G&E, he has structured his radio station holdings in various ways. According to the most recent FCC records, he is the majority owner of at least six stations, such as the one in Atlanta, which he purchased for $2.1 million in 2013.

In other cases he leases airtime. In Washington, for instance, he leases virtually all the time on WCRW for more than $720,000 a year through G&E. A Philadelphia station is leased under a similar arrangement for at least $600,000 a year.

A spokeswoman for Su said Reuters’ description of the extent of his network is “generally correct.”

Su declined to describe how he makes money when most of the U.S. stations air virtually no commercials. He also declined to say how he got the money to finance his radio leases and acquisitions.

His stations, Su said, offer the American public an alternative viewpoint on Chinese culture and politics. He has “no way to control” what CRI broadcasts on the stations, he said, nor is he part of any plan to spread Chinese propaganda.

“We are only telling the unfiltered real news to our audience,” he said.

On Oct. 29, WCRW carried a program called “The Hourly News.” Among the top stories: Senior Chinese and U.S. naval commanders planned to speak by video after a U.S. Navy ship passed close by China’s new artificial islands in the South China Sea.

Washington and its allies see the island-building program as a ploy to grab control of strategic sea lanes, and the Navy sail-by was meant to counter China’s territorial claims.

WCRW omitted that side of the story.

The admirals are holding the talks, the announcer said, “amid the tension the U.S. created this week.”

 

(Edited by Bill Tarrant and Peter Hirschberg. Reported by Koh Gui Qing in Beijing and John Shiffman in Washington and Los Angeles. Additional reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim and Joseph Campbell in Beijing, Ritsuko Ando in Tokyo, Gopal Sharma and Ross Adkin in Kathmandu, Mirwais Harooni in Kabul, Joyce Lee in Seoul, Eveline Danubrata and Arzia Tivany Wargadiredja in Jakarta, Mohammed Shihar in Colombo, Khettiya Jittapong and Pairat Temphairojana in Bangkok, Terrence Edwards in Ulan Bator, Theodora D’cruz in Singapore, Diane Chan in Hong Kong, Jane Wardell and Ian Chua in Sydney, Balazs Koranyi and Harro Ten Wolde in Frankfurt, Jussi Rosendahl in Helsinki, Sara Ledwith in London, Julia Fioretti in Brussels, Can Sezer in Istanbul, Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, Kole Casule in Skopje, Renee Maltezou in Athens, Margarita Antidze in Tbilisi, Radu-Sorin Marinas in Bucharest, Geert De Clercq in Paris, Marton Dunai in Budapest, Ed Cropley in Johannesburg, Selam Gebrekidan in New York, Anna Driver in Houston, Renee Dudley in Boston, Brian Grow in Atlanta, David Storey in Washington and Euan Rocha in Toronto.)

Pope’s Visit Brings Security Concerns, Including Police Impersonators

Law enforcement personnel are worried that the Pope’s visit to the United States could attract terrorist attacks and even go as far as impersonating police officers, EMTs, and firefighters to launch such attacks.

“The impersonators’ main goals are to further their attack plan and do harm to unsuspecting citizens as well as members of the emergency services community,” said the bulletin, titled “First Responder Impersonators: The New Terrorist Threat.”

The Pennsylvania State Police’s Criminal Intelligence Center distributed a memo to law enforcement throughout the northeast that imposters could use false identification to enter secure areas or to get away undetected from a crime scene. Pennsylvania State Police stated that the memo was not specifically meant for the Pope’s visit and officials confirmed that there were no credible threats known against Pope Francis at this time. The New York State Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington also confirmed there were no known threats tied to Pope Francis’ visit.

FBI and Homeland Security reports based the premises for the memo, which made statements that suspects in the U.S. and abroad were in possession of police uniforms. In the past, authorities have arrested potential terrorists who were in possession of U.S. military uniforms, fake IDs, and police uniforms.

“A wide variety of products such as clothing, weapons and tactical gear can be purchased on the Internet by any consumer, regardless of a confirmed affiliation to emergency services, government or law enforcement agency,” the statement read. The document also advised that police be on high alert for theft of uniforms, credentials, and emergency vehicles.

Police officials are also warning citizens to be aware of their surroundings during the Pope’s visit, especially when in large crowded areas. The memo states that event locations and public transit are high risk areas because of the large groups of people and the amount of attention the city will have during the papal visit.

According to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, the U.S. has stopped at least one threat against Pope Francis last week.

During the Pope’s visit, security preparations include screening checkpoints, airspace restrictions, and a ban on selfie sticks and backpacks at the events. Along the motorcade routes there will be multiple airport-style screenings and extensive street closures in every city he visits. There will also be a significant increase in the amount of first responders deployed in the cities.

Anti-Semitic Fliers Found In Washington, D.C. Neighborhoods

Residents across the D.C. area have reported hateful anti-Semitic fliers being placed outside their homes.

Residents of the Takoma neighborhood in northwest D.C. reported a two-page flier with declarations about Jews and false quotes was placed around their neighborhood some time early Thursday morning.  Police said that they had also had reports of the flier being distributed in Chevy Chase.

The flier was titled “Jews Destroy U.S. Financially” and stated “remove each and every Jew and Pro-Israel official from state and federal governments and financial organizations.”

The Washington Post reported the flier being delivered to readers in Bloomingdale, Cleveland Park, Friendship Heights, Georgetown and Mount Pleasant; in other neighborhoods in Chevy Chase; and in Arlington and Alexandria.

“We would have to consult with the state’s attorney to see if this activity actually rises to the level of a criminal violation,” Montgomery County Capt. Paul Starks said.

Police have asked anyone who saw the fliers being distributed to call police with a description of who carried out the distribution.

One of the homes hit by the fliers was that of a rabbi.

“I’ve really been touched by the response of my neighbors,” Rabbi Elizabeth Richman said. “There’s a small amount of feeling uneasy, and maybe feeling a little bit unsafe. I have been thinking about it all day, because of that feeling of unease.”

Pro-Life Groups Vow To Defy D.C. Hiring Mandate

Pro-life groups in the nation’s capital are vowing to defy the local government’s mandate that they cannot consider an applicant’s beliefs about abortion when hiring them.

“Despite the enactment of this unjust law, we will continue to hire employees who share our commitment to the dignity of every member of the human family. We will not abandon the purpose of our organizations in order to comply with this illegal and unjust law. We will vigorously resist any effort under RHNDA (Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act) to violate our constitutionally protected fundamental rights,” the groups said in a mutual statement.

The Act amended a D.C. discrimination law.  The law says that all employers may not consider “reproductive health decision making, including a decision to use or access a particular drug, device or medical service, because of or on the basis of an employer’s personal beliefs about such services.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom has stated they will use their resources to defend the religious rights of the groups against the government’s attempt to strip them of a part of their religious freedom.

“Pro-life organizations in our nation’s capital should not be forced to pay for abortions or hire those who oppose their pro-life beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox. “While the D.C. Council has retreated from this law’s original goal, which was to force pro-life organizations to pay for abortions in violation of their conscience, RHNDA remains an unnecessary and illegal attack on pro-life conscience that Congress must stop and that we will fight, if necessary, in the courts.”

Thousands Gather At Lincoln Memorial For Easter Sunrise Service

A celebration of the risen Lord stood boldly in the nation’s capital Sunday as over 7,000 Christians gathered at the Lincoln Memorial at sunrise.

The service, organized by Capital Church in nearby Vienna, Virginia, began at 6:30 a.m. and latest an hour and a half.  Worship was lead by Newsboys lead singer Michael Tait plus a choir, orchestra and band.

“Washington, D.C. is arguably the one most influential cities in the world and I do believe it is important in the heart of the most influential city of the world to declare on Easter morning our faith in the risen Lord,” Capital Church Pastor Amos Dodge told The Christian Post. “I think it is important to reclaim some of our own spiritual heritage and we do that from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and declare our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again.”

Dodge’s sermon focused on the fact that Christianity is the only religion in the world where their God is not dead.

“Christianity is unique in that we know that Muhammad may have said some wonderful things and done some wonderful things, but he is in a tomb. Confucius was noted for wise sayings but nobody has heard from him in a long, long time,” Dodge declared. “When you compare the claims of Jesus Christ to all the religions in the world, no other religion has a risen savior, the one who came back from the dead.”

“You can trust a man who died for you,” Dodge continued. “Jesus died for us and then came back from the grave.”

The Easter Sunrise Service at the Lincoln Memorial began in 1979.  Pastor Dodge had been walking past the Lincoln reflecting pool during a spring day and God gave him the vision of the service.  The first service had 150 people in attendance.

This year, the service welcomed Christians from all 50 states.

Pastors Thrown Out of Capital For “Appeal To Heaven”

A pastor’s group was thrown out of the U.S. Capital Visitor Center for their racial reconciliation event because the theme of the event included a reference to “an appeal to heaven.”

Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. says the action against the High Impact Leadership Coalition is calling it a clear act of religious discrimination.

“They were aware of the original theme, but it seems as they looked into things that the question of God and heaven really caused them angst,” said Jackson.

“Unfortunately, we got pushed back and we felt it was discriminatory. And there is a tinge of religious prejudice in terms of our content, our theme, our focus. We felt that we needed to continue with the meeting anyway rather than get all tied up in a back-and-forth fight with the folks at the Capitol.”

Jackson said the representatives of the Capital told them they were being forced to leave because they were referring to God.

The Washington Hilton eagerly welcomed the group and their message.

“I think the real problem for me, personally, is that first a go ahead was given and the rules were followed as we had known them at that moment. Then questions come, content is questioned … and it seemed to me that there was some angst and concern that we were a biblically based, evangelical, black, Christian group,” Jackson told the Christian Post.

“Had we been more of another religious background or more interracial or there was a sense that there was more control over the event, it may have been different. But from where I sit, it seems like religious pushback, racial concern, about how this is going to look and what our intentions are going to be. However you envision it, it’s not the welcome we want based on using a public facility and following the rules,” he said.

The U.S. Capital Visitor Center would not answer questions from the Christian Post on the situation.

Museum Of The Bible Construction Begins

The Museum of the Bible is officially being built in the nation’s capital.

Construction has begun on the longtime project of Hobby Lobby head Steve Green.  The museum, scheduled to open in 2017, will have 430,000 square feet dedicated to the history of the Bible and the word of God.

“In many respects this is the kickoff of a three year project. We’ve been working on it for two years, this is the first time that anything major will be exposed to the public,” Cary Summers, president of the Museum of the Bible, said Thursday.

“Hopefully, it will be a great addition to this city. As you know, Washington, D.C. is the capital of museums in the world.”

Green, a collector of Biblical artifacts, had purchased a facility in 2012 for the purpose of building the museum.  The museum will not only be open to the public but also be open to seminaries around the world to study the various Biblical artifacts collected by the Green family.

The artifacts are also part of a course curriculum created by Green.

“It just seems to make sense because of the scholarship that we have, the artifacts that we have, the museum that we have, that we develop that into a curriculum that basically teaches what the museum displays,” said Green. “That is a venture that we’re working on as well.”

State Department Hosts Muslim Brotherhood

The State Department welcomed Muslim Brotherhood aligned leaders to discuss their ongoing effort to undermine the government of Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The group has been seen taking provocative photos during their trip where they are flashing the Islamist group’s four finger hand signal and the posting those photos to social media sites.

The State Department is maintaining a dialogue with the group because of their continued involvement in the Egyptian political spectrum.

“The State Department continues to speak with Muslim Brothers on the assumption that Egyptian politics are unpredictable, and the Brotherhood still has some support in Egypt,” Eric Trager of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told the Washington Free Beacon. “But when pro-Brotherhood delegations then post photos of themselves making pro-Brotherhood gestures in front of the State Department logo, it creates an embarrassment for the State Department.”

Terrorism expert Patrick Poole said the meeting is an insult to our Egyptian allies.

“What this shows is that the widespread rejection of the Muslim Brotherhood across the Middle East, particularly the largest protests in recorded human history in Egypt on June 30, 2013, that led to Morsi’s ouster, is not recognized by the State Department and the Obama administration,” Poole said.

“This is a direct insult to our Egyptian allies, who are in an existential struggle against the Muslim Brotherhood, all in the pursuit of the mythical ‘moderate Islamists’ who the D.C. foreign policy elite still believe will bring democracy to the Middle East.”