A YOUNG woman who fell victim to what she described as a “hate crime” at the hands of evangelical street preachers at the Diamond in Enniskillen, has held a second peaceful protest in support of the LGBT+ community which has been allegedly targeted by the Christian group.
Jamie Farmer along with a number of young people, took to the Diamond last Thursday in a response to preachers who had also gathered in the same area.
Speaking to the Herald, Jamie said, “This is a peaceful protest against a hate crime. These people are not preaching love or God, just pure hatred.
“They preach that Fermanagh is the reason for Covid; that God sent Covid to drown out and kill all of the homosexuals and their sympathisers and that we would be tortured and burnt in hell.”
While none of the preachers are believed to be from Fermanagh, it has been reported that one preacher was arrested in Larne by police one week prior to the protest.
In a bid to make the much-loved Diamond area “peaceful again,” Jamie spoke out about the high levels of “distress” and “intimidation” that is causing locals to avoid the town centre altogether.
“What started all of this off, was one day I went out for a cup of coffee with my friends, I was listening to what they were saying and I thought it was totally wrong.
“I went up and respectfully asked for a leaflet out of curiosity, but one of the preachers grabbed me by the arm and told me that I should be worried for my soul and called me a she-devil.
“I’m just glad the PSNI are here today to stop any form of harassment like this from happening to another person.
“Scenes of children crying, and the elderly being forced to cross to the other side of the street in fear of intimidation is just not right.”
To read more on this story see this week’s Fermanagh Herald. Can’t get to the shop to collect your copy? No problem! You can download a copy straight to your device by following this link https://bit.ly/3gOl8G0
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