Screenshot from @seanfeucht Youtube channel.
Sean Feucht (left, guitar) prays with former Washington state Rep. Matt Shea and former Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward at a worship event in August 2023.
The city of Spokane may face legal trouble because of a City Council resolution that condemned then-Mayor Nadine Woodward for appearing on stage with former state Rep. Matt Shea, a controversial pastor, at a Christian worship event last summer.
The resolution was passed in September, a few weeks after video circulated of Woodward getting on stage with Shea and praying with him at the “Let Us Worship” concert, which was hosted by Sean Feucht, a conservative musician and evangelist who tours the country.
The resolution condemned Woodward’s actions and declared that the Spokane City Council “does not condone the hateful and dangerous beliefs espoused by Matt Shea and Sean Feucht.”
Woodward claimed she didn’t know Shea would be at the event and subsequently described his political beliefs as a “threat to our democracy.”
Shea, who represented the Spokane Valley area in the state Legislature from 2009 to 2021, has been tied to extremist groups, and was expelled from the state Republican legislative caucus in 2019 after a report found that he participated in domestic terrorism. The resolution passed by City Council also notes that Shea distributed a manifesto titled “Biblical Basis for War" that seemed to call for the killing of non-Christian males.
The progressive council members who championed the resolution said it was necessary for the City Council to make a statement standing against hate. The council's two conservatives argued that it was a political stunt and a waste of time.
The resolution passed 4-3 after a period of heated public testimony, with Council members Jonathan Bingle, Michael Cathcart and Ryan Oelrich opposed. (Oelrich had only been appointed to a vacancy on the council weeks before the debate). The controversy garnered national attention, and Woodward lost her bid for reelection in November.
Now, Feucht is claiming the city owes him money.
On Jan. 18, he filed a claim for damages alleging the four council members who voted for the resolution "acted under the color of law to reprieve Feucht of his federally guaranteed First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights, privileges and immunities."
The city has responded by hiring legal help and telling officials to retain documents in case of a lawsuit.
Feucht's claim alleges that the resolution “communicated to the government and elected leaders of Spokane, Washington that if they gathered with Feucht and anyone who believed, prayed or worshiped like Feucht, they would receive an official condemnation from Spokane.”
The claim was quoted by the city's legal department in an internal memo sent to city officials, which has been viewed by the Inlander. The memo does not say how much money Feucht is seeking.
The city receives a number of claims for damages each year, often for small things such as damage from a pothole or a garbage truck backing into someone’s garage. The city contracts with a third party that reviews the claims and, if deemed appropriate, settles for a dollar amount. A claim has to be filed at least 60 days before a lawsuit can be filed over the incident.
The city seems to be taking the possibility of legal action seriously.
Public documents show that, on Feb. 1, the city entered into a $50,000 contract with Pacifica Law Group to provide "legal services and advice" regarding the damage claim and “any subsequent litigation” brought by Feucht.
On Feb. 2, City Attorney Mike Piccolo sent a memo to city officials instructing them to retain copies of any emails, text messages, calendars, call logs and other documents and communications relating to the September resolution.
“As Mr. Feucht has retained an attorney and filed a claim for damages, there is a possibility that he will initiate a lawsuit against the City of Spokane and/or the individual employees and former employees,” the memo said.
Piccolo tells the Inlander that the city is waiting to see what happens.
“We have their claim, that’s all I can say," Piccolo says.
The claim was filed on Feucht’s behalf by Pete Serrano, the director of and general counsel for the Silent Majority Foundation, a conservative nonprofit that describes itself as a “grass roots organization centered on protecting America’s constitution and theological foundation.”
Previously, the group has filed lawsuits challenging COVID vaccine mandates, high-capacity gun magazine bans and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s pandemic state of emergency.
Serrano is also the new mayor of Pasco, Washington, and recently announced that he is running for state Attorney General.
On Wednesday, the receptionist at the Silent Majority headquarters in Pasco said Serrano was busy, and that he might call to comment later if a lawsuit ends up being filed. Feucht did not respond to a request for comment early Wednesday afternoon.
Feucht rose to prominence as a political figure during the pandemic, when he defied pandemic restrictions by continuing to hold worship events. He released a film about the protests with the tongue-in-cheek title “Superspreader.”
Last July, dozens of faith leaders in Washington, Oregon and Idaho sent a letter to local legislators warning them of Feucht’s plans to perform at state capitols. The letter was organized by the nonprofit Western States Center, a Portland-based civil rights group that monitors far-right extremism in the Pacific Northwest.
"Feucht has spent the past year capitalizing on anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments by railing against Pride Month, even embracing the exclusionary label of 'Christian nationalist,' and declaring that people with his narrow view of Christian theology should make all laws in the United States," the letter said. "We reject these attempts to cloak bigotry in religious language, and we ask you to do the same."
Feucht has involved himself in various culture war fights involving the LGBTQ+ community. He has been a vocal opponent of Pride month displays in Target and has protested against Disney’s pro-LGBTQ+ efforts. He has talked baselessly about a nefarious agenda to “groom” children with “radical sexual ideologies.”
“The level of perversion & demonic evil taking place in cities across America this month SHOULD ALARM EVERY CHRISTIAN,” he wrote during Pride month in 2022. “Our services, sermons and songs mean nothing if we cannot stand up for the children being relentlessly targeted, groomed and attacked! We need to engage this spiritual war through worship, prayer and STANDING UP!”
Before the City Council voted on the September resolution, Council member Cathcart voiced concern about potential issues that were brought up by the city’s legal department.
“This has some constitutional, obviously, potential issues related to it,” Cathcart said.
Cathcart made a motion to publicly release the advice given to council members by city legal, which is usually confidential. He was voted down. Council member Bingle shared similar concerns.
“When we say ‘known anti-LGBTQ extremist Sean Feucht,’ I think that we could be in trouble for defamatory statements,” Bingle said before the vote.
Bingle added that he used to be a worship minister who traveled to different cities to hold events.
“If their city council then said, ‘known anti-LGBTQ extremist Jonathan Bingle,’ I would sue the pants off of them so quickly,” Bingle said.
You can view the full resolution here:
