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For Immediate Release
October, 30 2008, 03:01pm EDT
Contact:
(202) 466-3234
Americans United Asks IRS to Investigate NC Baptist Group That Hosted Obama Rally
Event Featuring Michelle Obama May Have Violated Federal Tax Law, Says Watchdog Group
WASHINGTON
The General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina may have
violated federal tax law by hosting Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic
presidential candidate Barack Obama, at an event that appeared to be
little more than a campaign rally, says Americans United for Separation
of Church and State.
During her Oct. 29 appearance before the group, Obama praised her
husband and told the crowd he is qualified to be president because of
his past struggles. "Don't we deserve a president with that kind of
experience?" she asked. "Barack Obama gets it because he's been there."
Obama also told the crowd, "I also come here as a wife who loves my
husband, and I believe my husband will be an extraordinary president."
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, said
the event was not the type of non-partisan activity that churches are
permitted to host.
"This was an Obama campaign rally taking place during the meeting of
a religious group," Lynn said. "Federal tax law simply does not allow
religious organizations to sponsor events like this."
In a letter to the IRS today, Lynn requested an investigation of the matter.
"This appearance took on the trappings of a campaign rally, and
during it Ms. Obama promoted her husband's candidacy and appealed for
votes," wrote Lynn in the letter.
Americans United maintains a special initiative, Project Fair Play,
designed to educate religious leaders about the requirements of federal
tax law. In cases of egregious violations of the law, AU asks the IRS
to intervene.
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
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Fine, who has the endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump in his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives, called himself the "Hebrew Hammer" in a post on X on Tuesday and suggested Reps. Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Omar (D-Minn.) should leave office for their own safety.
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The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has spoken out previously about anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim statements by Fine (R-19), called the lawmaker an "unhinged anti-Muslim bigot."
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Despite rainy conditions, the United American Indians of New England held its 55th annual National Day of Mourning at Cole's Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Kisha James, who is an enrolled member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and also Oglala Lakota, shared how her grandfather founded the event in 1970 and pledged to continue to "tear down the Thanksgiving mythology."
"The past influences the present" and "the settler project" continues with racism, misogyny, and anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, James told the crowd. "The Pilgrims are not ancient history."
James took aim at fossil fuel pipelines, oil rigs, skyscrapers, corporations, the U.S. military, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of immigrants, and declared that "no one is illegal on stolen on land."
Jean-Luc Pierite, a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana and president of the board of directors of the North American Indian Center of Boston who helped organize this year's gathering, toldUSA Today that "while we are mourning some tragic history but also contemporary issues, we are also expressing gratitude for each [other] and building this community space."
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This year's event in Plymouth included speeches about the suffering of Palestinians—as Israel wages a U.S. government-backed war on the Gaza Strip that has killed at least 44,330 people, injured 104,933, and led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice—and of people impacted by extractive industries.
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According toABC 7:
For the second year in a row, the group ran in front of the Ronald McDonald float to briefly stop the parade.
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Many sat on the ground, locking arms and chanting "Free, free Palestine!"
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Video footage shared on social media shows members of the New York Police Department grabbing protesters and their banner, and throwing at least one person face-first into the road.
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NDN Collective said that "as Indigenous peoples, we reject colonial holidays rooted in the genocidal erasure of our existence. We demand #LANDBACK to reclaim sovereignty, repair ties with Mother Earth, and protect Indigenous ways of life—honoring them for generations to come."
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"Our history books mark 'the first Thanksgiving' in 1621 when at least 90 Wampanoag men, led by Massasoit, walked in on a Puritan harvest feast," Beyal detailed. "Approximately 150 years later, all 13 colonies celebrated a day of solemn Thanksgiving to celebrate the win of the Battle of Saratoga in December of 1777. [U.S. President] George Washington called for a day of thanksgiving and prayer in 1789 to give gratitude for the end of the Revolutionary War."
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