Megachurch Pastor Bishop Charles Blake Denounces Recent Fatal shootings

LOS ANGELES - July 8, 2016 - PRLog -- Charles Blake, the presiding Bishop of Church of God in Christ, the fifth largest Christian denomination in the world, held a press conference in Cincinnati to address the recent fatal shooting in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas.  Blake denounced the "murderous" shooting that killed five Dallas police officers and "execution style" killings of young Black men in Louisiana and Minnesota.

To a room packed with Church of God in Christ members who were attending a conference in Cincinnati, as well as members of the Cincinnati community, Blake offered a prayer for peace in the wake of the recent violence in America.

Cincinnati Mayor, John Cranley
and President of the NAACP Cincinnati Branch, Robert Richardson Sr. also spoke at the press conference.

Blake's press conference statement follows:

"The Church of God in Christ denounces in the strongest way possible the murderous sniper attack on the police in Dallas last night. This vicious act perpetuates the cycle of violence and injustice that it ostensibly sought to address. We absolutely reject this brutal attack on the police. We repudiate the notion that it is in any way excusable, even in the face of the recent homicidal behavior of police officers in Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights.

It seems to us impossible to justify the execution style killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge. This is true even though that young man was armed and known to the police. Execution by the police force on the streets does not constitute due process in the United States. We urge the community to maintain peaceful vigilance in pursuit of justice in this case. We shall not rush to judgement despite appearances.

The tragedy of Philandro Catille's death at the hands of another police officer is as deplorable. There must be justice in this case too.

We commend the Dallas police force for their heroism and professionalism in ending the attack. We support the prosecution of any co-conspirators to the full extent of the law.

Our prayers are with the families of all of the victims at this time.


Blake is the pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ, with a membership of over 25,000. Blake isCo-Chairperson for the Executive Committee of the Pentecostal Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA) which represents over 40,000 Pentecostal / Charismatic Christian congregations in Canada, the U.S.A and Mexico.  President Barack Obama Blake to serve on his 25-person White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.