A small-town Alabama police department believes that Satan is responsible for a recent increase in homicides. In a statement posted on Facebook, the Opp Police Department blamed young people who have turned away from God and “embraced Satan” for the spike.
The post by the department followed two gunshot killings in Covington County. In a now deleted Facebook post, written in all capital letters, it said:
THIS IS HAPPENING BECAUSE WE HAVE TURNED AWAY FROM GOD AND EMBRACED SATAN. WE MAY HAVE NOT MEANT TO DO SO BUT, WE HAVE. IT IS TIME TO ASK FOR GOD’S HELP TO STOP THIS.
The post also addressed that there have been five homicides in Opp this past year which is a big jump for the small town of 6,500 people. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Opp reported only two homicides between 2007 and 2017.
The police department is now under fire by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group that opposes mixing government and religious faith. They believe that the department is wrongly promoting religion with their social media agenda and demonizing non-believers.
“The department has very directly endorses one religious ideology to the exclusion of minority religions and atheism, and decried Satanism,” said Sam Grover, an attorney who represents the Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religious Foundation. “Neither message is permissible.”
The original Facebook message read:
THIS PAST SUNDAY, A YOUNG MAN WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN KINSTON. MONDAY NIGHT, A MOTHER WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN NORTHERN COVINGTON COUNTY. THERE HAVE BEEN FIVE MURDERS IN COVINGTON COUNTY IN 2018. THESE MURDERS HAVE BEEN DONE BY OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. THIS IS HAPPENING BECAUSE WE HAVE TURNED AWAY FROM GOD AND EMBRACED SATAN. WE MAY HAVE NOT MEANT TO DO SO BUT, WE HAVE. IT IS TIME TO ASK FOR GOD’S HELP TO STOP THIS. IT IS TIME TO BE PARENTS AND RAISE OUR CHILDREN, NOT HAVE THEM RAISE US. IT IS TIME TO FULLY SUPPORT LAW ENFORCEMENT AND STAND BY THE OFFICERS AND DEPUTIES THAT ARE FAR TOO OFTEN HAVING TO WALK INTO THESE DANGEROUS SITUATIONS AND CLEAN UP THE MESS. FRIENDS, IT IS TIME TO STAND UP AND BE RESPONSIBLE, GROWN UP LEADERS IN OUR COMMUNITY. BOTTOM LINE, THERE ARE SHEEP; THERE ARE WOLVES AND THERE ARE SHEEP DOGS. WHICH GROUP DO YOU BELONG TO?
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