A church bound man, probably in his late thirties, grabbed the bookmarks from the hand of 11-year old Grace, as she stood on the sidewalk holding a red sign in her small hands.  

Her grandmother, Marguerite, age 77, who was standing next to Grace reported the man stopped in front of the pair, read the signs they both held, then flew into a rage.  He reportedly said nothing to the child, but forcibly grabbed all the bookmarks from her hand, and told the grandmother he wanted to grab the sign, crush it and throw it in the street, but he stopped short of doing so. 

Marguerite held a poster photo showing an Israeli Defense Force Soldier in full battle gear, aiming his assault rifle at a terrified child and his parents, at point blank range.

She did not give up the bookmarks so easily. Though small and not too nimble, the grandmother said she? chased after him to get the pamphlets back.  He crumpled them and threw them in my face.”  Marguerite held the crushed bookmarks in her shaking hand as she related the encounter to the Sun Valley police.  The man had disappeared into the packed church.

Grace, her mother and her grandmother were all part of a Project Strait Gate picket in their hometown of Sun Valley, California, at a church they occasionally attend.  Little Grace’s red sign had black handwritten letters that reads:

ISRAEL’S WAR CRIMES ARE

UNITED STATES WAR CRIMES

STOP U.S. AID TO ISRAEL

The bookmark that incited the rage is a Strait Gate handout bearing the photo of a four-year old orphan Iraqi girl wearing a baseball cap.  Encircling the girl is the message. 

ARE YOU REALLY PRO-LIFE?

DOES IRAQI CHILD TEABA AHMAD

HAVE A RIGHT TO LIFE?

(https://whtt.org/straitgate/resources.htm).

The grandmother added: ?This whole incident was very upsetting and shocked everyone around.?  

This is one of several reported incidents of “Church Rage