Second Baptist pastor Ed Young blames liberals for rise in Houston homicides: ‘Throw those bums out’

The Rev. Ed Young, senior pastor of Houston’s Second Baptist Church, on Sunday urged his congregation to vote out local elected officials who he blamed for the rise in homicides in Harris County, setting off an online firestorm that included calls to strip the church of its tax-exempt status. Young’s remarks came in the opening minutes of his sermon, as he condemned “left-wing progressives” — without mentioning any by name — for their approach to crime and public safety in Houston. Homicides have risen in recent years, with other major cities reporting similar increases since the COVID-19 pandemic. “If Houston and Harris County is to survive, we had better throw those bums out of office. They are not doing the job that we have called them to [do],” Young said, pausing for an ovation that lasted about 30 seconds.

Young’s comments, livestreamed on Second Baptist’s YouTube channel, drew praise from Republicans including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who called the message “powerful,” and Alexandra del Moral Mealer, the GOP nominee for Harris County judge. Mealer’s race against incumbent Democrat Lina Hidalgo is among the highest profile contests in Texas this year, and public safety has played a central role in the campaign thus far. Others slammed Young’s remarks as a breach of federal law that bars tax-exempt churches and charities from “directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.” Daniel Cohen, president of the progressive group Indivisible Houston, called Young “an extremist who uses state dollars to preach politics.” Young, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, leads one of the country’s biggest churches, touting a membership of 80,000 across several locations as of 2019. His congregants include Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other Texas lawmakers. He most recently drew the ire of progressives in 2018 during an appearance at the election night watch party of then-congressman John Culberson, a Republican and Second Baptist member who had just lost to Democrat Lizzie Fletcher. In a speech filmed and posted by KHOU-11, Young called the Democratic Party “some kind of religion that is basically godless.”