California city censors police and fire chaplains, ordering them not to pray in Jesus' name: Report



A California city has reportedly forbidden its volunteer police and fire chaplains to invoke the name of Jesus while praying with members of public agencies.

Denny Cooper and his son J.C. Cooper have been ministering to residents in the City of Carlsbad, California, for years. Denny is a gym teacher and baseball coach who has been a volunteer chaplain with the city's fire department for 18 years. J.C. is an associate pastor at the Mission Church who has been volunteering as a chaplain for the Carlsbad Police Department for six years.

Praying without mentioning the name of Jesus 'would be a denial of his Savior Jesus Christ, a violation of his conscience, and a sin.'

However, Carlsbad city manager Scott Chadwick has apparently taken umbrage with the overtly Christian nature of their chaplaincy work. According to a letter from First Liberty Institute, a legal nonprofit dedicated to protecting religious liberties, Chadwick recently told J.C. and Police Chief Christie Calderwood that referencing the name of Jesus during a public-oriented prayer "was considered harassment, created a hostile work environment, and lifted one religion above another."

A member of the Carlsbad City Council even complained after J.C. closed his prayer during the Carlsbad Police Department Awards Ceremony in the name of Jesus, the FLI letter claimed, though whether Chadwick was the complainant is unclear.

Police Chief Calderwood has since ordered J.C. not to mention Jesus' name during his prayers with members of the police force. "[J.C.] could use any other name he wanted as long as it was not 'Jesus,'" she said, according to the letter.

Fire Chief Mike Calderwood gave similar instructions to chaplain Denny Cooper. The fire chief reportedly claimed Chadwick issued the anti-Jesus directive.

The Cooper men discussed the order, and with the help of his pastor, J.C. determined that praying without mentioning the name of Jesus "would be a denial of his Savior Jesus Christ, a violation of his conscience, and a sin," the letter said. He then declined an invitation to give the invocation for another recent police department event.

With the letter, FLI hopes to remind Carlsbad officials that the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that public chaplains may invoke the name of Jesus. And in fact, this Jesus-free policy — which Chadwick allegedly implemented unilaterally, "without consideration or a vote by the City Council" — may even violate the Coopers' First Amendment rights to free speech.

In the letter, FLI urged the city council to reconsider the decision "to censor the Chaplains' prayers" and instead "return its longstanding practice of inviting the Chaplains to pray freely in accordance with their sincere religious beliefs." FLI even offered to assist the city in crafting a prayer policy that accords with the Constitution so as not to deprive its officers and firefighters of "the solace and the spiritual strength" of "the Chaplains' volunteer ministry."

Carlsbad officials did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Times or the Christian Post.

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Video: Another group of suspected illegal aliens arrives in California by boat — then quickly flees scene on foot



Another large group of suspected illegal aliens arrived in the United States by boat, according to a video shared recently on social media, the New York Post reported.

The video, captured Thursday morning, showed approximately two dozen individuals offloading from a small ship docked at a marina in Newport Beach, California. The suspected illegal immigrants are seen hopping over the fence to exit the harbor. One man appears to cover his face as he walks past the cameraman. The individuals seem to split off from one another, heading in separate directions toward the neighborhood across the street from the harbor, the video showed.

WATCH: Approximately two dozen migrants were caught on film unloading off a boat in NEWPORT BEACH Thursday morning on the tip of the Balboa Peninsula and fleeing into the neighborhood. \n\nUntil we fix our broken immigration laws, every town in Orange County is a border town.
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Newport Beach Mayor Will O’Neill addressed the video in a post on X, writing, “I’m aware of a video showing a mass of people offloading from a boat in our Harbor. I’ve been in touch with the [Orange County] Sheriff’s Department who patrols our Harbor to find out how we can do better.”

O.C. Sheriff Don Barnes recently reported that maritime smuggling operations are becoming more common, with a nearly 140% increase from 2020 to 2023. He noted that “state restrictions on communications with federal partners hinder” Harbor Patrol’s efforts to combat illegal immigration.

“The state should repeal laws that restrict communication with our federal partners,” Barnes said, referring to California’s "sanctuary policies," which prevent local law enforcement agencies from coordinating and cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

O’Neill said that he “wholeheartedly” agrees with Barnes, stating that “our law enforcement’s hands get tied behind their backs by Sacramento’s ‘sanctuary state’ policies.”

“Our nation’s border crisis is serious, lawless, and dangerous. The approaches taken by the administrations in D.C. and Sacramento have made it significantly worse,” O’Neill continued. “As it has been said, every city is now a border city. We must expect better from people in charge of enforcing our laws.”

In April, a video shared online showed a large group of suspected illegal aliens arriving at a Carlsbad beach by boat.

@abc10news

North County leaders are calling federal and state authorities to secure San Diego’s borders. This comes after Saturday’s incident where a boat carrying migrants sped up to the shore in Carlsbad. #viralvideos #migrants #border #sandiego #beach #carlsbad #carlsbadcalifornia #news #localnews #boat #panga #immigrant #immigration #foryou #foryoupage #videoviral #viralditiktok #lifeguards #shore #coastal #borderpatrol #northcountysd #sd #suv #pressconference #federal #state

The man who recorded the video told KGTV, “To see it live like that. I mean, even police and border patrol said they never caught it live like I did.”

“So to see one coming toward the shore at 40, 45 miles an hour and not turning, it was like a movie ... and the lifeguards were sitting right there, so I thought it was a planned, staged event,” he added.

According to him, 22 people jumped off the ship after beaching it and leaving it behind.

“It looked like a military exercise,” he said.

About half of the individuals jumped in an SUV and fled the scene, the man noted. Another video captured the vehicle dramatically speeding away while one individual was still attempting to jump into the backseat. The remaining illegal immigrants “started walking towards Carlsbad,” the man stated.

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