AUC students walk out on Warnock at Ebenezer Baptist Church, call for Gaza ceasefire
Ebenezer Baptist Church on March 3, 2024. (Credit: EbenezerATL)
ATLANTA - A group of students, who said they represented the Atlanta University Consortium (AUC) and the Black community of Atlanta, walked out of Ebenezer Baptist Church as Sen. Raphael Warnock began preaching Sunday service.
In a video posted to TikTok, the group slowly rose from the pews of the legendary church where Martin Luther King Jr. once served as the pastor. They removed their jackets and other articles of clothing, revealing matching t-shirts that said, "Stop Arming Israel."
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"I voted for Raphael Warnock in the first election that I could legally vote in because I thought that he would stand for what's right but unfortunately I was wrong and he has failed the Palestinian people and the community who voted for him in Atlanta…," the video was captioned.
One by one, they left their pews and filed out of the sanctuary quietly.
Despite the disturbance, Sen. Warnock, who currently serves as the senior pastor at Ebenezer, didn't miss a beat. He finished his thought before briefly addressing the situation.
"I want to thank God for the students and the young folk. I wish they'd hang out, so we could talk after church," Warnock said. "Let them know that they're welcome to stay. Let's talk after church."
Warnock then got right back into his sermon titled "A Seat at the Table."
The full service was live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook.
What has Sen. Raphael Warnock said about the Israel-Hamas War, Gaza ceasefire?
On Feb. 29, Warnock took to the podium on the Senate floor calling for a negotiated ceasefire, the release of all hostages still being held by Hamas and an opening for food, water, medicine and other critical aid to be filtered into Gaza.
"Tonight, I pray for a world where Israeli mothers and fathers and Palestinian mothers and fathers can put their children to bed in peace and awaken to a world where they are finally safe," he said.
"The whole world must see that Israel must exist and has the right to exist," Warnock said. "The dignity of self-determination is among the values he was seeking to uphold. Israelis deserve it. So do Palestinians. Two peoples, two states living alongside one another in freedom and in peace. That must remain our North Star. And if we would be true to our own values, we must call to task any politician who would reject that right to self-determination, especially if that rejection comes while, at the same time, one is engaged in massive and indiscriminate bombing of the very same people. From the ugly and dangerous specter of it all, the world cannot and must not turn away."
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A full transcript of his floor remarks was made available online.