Rick Wiles (Photo: Right Wing Watch) and Richard E Weber (Photo: Facebook)
The death of an LGBTQ lawyer who contracted COVID-19 coronavirus was God’s “judgment,” according to a Trump-approved pastor.
Richard E. Weber, a board member of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York, died last week due to complications from the virus, Bloomberg Lawreports.
The 57-year-old helped manage LeGaL’s free legal clinic, and LeGaL executive director Eric Lesh described him as “kind,” “always smiling,” and someone who brought “joy and exuberance” to others.
“He was a loving, kind and caring human being who gave generously of his legal talents and his energy to the LGBTQ community,” he told New York Daily News.
But Weber’s death has been branded “a judgment” from God by End Times broadcaster Rick Wiles, Right Wing Watch reports.
Speaking on his “TruNews” program, the conservative figure — who was recently granted press credentials by the White House — called coronavirus a “plague” and tied Weber’s death to his work for the LGBT Bar Association.
“He was a senior lawyer for the LGBT Bar Association of New York,” Wiles said. “The lawyers who sue churches, the lawyers who sue ministries…one of their senior lawyers for the gay rights movement died today in New York City of the coronavirus.
“There is a judgment, I’m telling you, a plague is underway,” he continued. “Get under the blood of Jesus Christ. Do not be in opposition to the Lord Jesus Christ and his church!”
He added: “There is a plague underway. There is a death angel across the world, and your only safety is in Christ.”
Wiles has a history of anti-LGBTQ, anti-Semitic, and bigoted statements, and made headlines earlier this year after saying that coronavirus will “purge” gay people.
Again calling coronavirus a plague from God, he said it was sent to “purge a lot of sin off this planet.”
Wiles’ comments are part of a trend of conservative figures blaming gay people for coronavirus or suggesting it was sent by God because of LGBTQ acceptance.
Last week, a Tennessee pastor said coronavirus was a “reckoning” from God because of marriage equality.
That same week, a guest host on The Rush Limbaugh Show said gay people are the reason San Francisco was placed on lockdown.
Conservative author Mark Steyn said the city’s mayor didn’t want “all the gays dropping dead” in a “big gay apocalypse,” and said gay people are “the ones with all the compromised immune systems from all the protease inhibitors and all the other stuff.”
And earlier this month, an Orthodox rabbi in Israel and an American pastor both claimed that coronavirus was divine punishment for allowing LGBTQ people to exist.
New research employing mRNA technology -- which gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic -- may offer the key to developing a cure for HIV.
One of the chief challenges in combating HIV is the virus’s ability to hide within certain white blood cells, creating a "reservoir" that can reactivate and evade both the immune system and antiretroviral drugs.
But researchers from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia, believe they have found a way to make the virus visible and therefore easier to fight, reports The Guardian.
A 16-year-old was sentenced to a juvenile facility until he turns 21 after pleading guilty to five charges related to the October 2024 murder of 39-year-old Bryan Smith, a.k.a. "The Barber," a beloved local DJ, barber, and stylist who died after being robbed in the 500 block of T Street NW.
The youth did not react as D.C. Superior Court Judge James Crowell read the charges -- including robbery, felony murder, and assault -- and told him: "A life was taken and your role in that cannot be erased."
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously revived a 2020 lawsuit by Marlean Ames, who claims she was discriminated against for being heterosexual by the Ohio Department of Youth Services.
The 61-year-old had worked for the department since 2004. A decade later, she was promoted to administrator of the Prison Rape Elimination Act. But she claimed that the conflict started after she began reporting to a lesbian woman, according to The Hill.
In 2019, Ames interviewed for another position within the department but was not hired. Her supervisor suggested she retire, and days later, Ames was demoted, with a significant pay cut. A 25-year-old gay man was subsequently promoted to her old position. Months later, a lesbian woman was chosen for the position for which she had applied.
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