‘Mass Exorcism’: Christian Supremacists Take Over the National Mall

Donald Trump-backing Christian supremacists gathered en masse on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Yom Kippur on Oct. 12, to fast, atone, and receive messages about a holy revolution, national deliverance from LGBTQ “demons,” and “spiritual warfare” matched to a physical “ground game.” 

As one preacher put it: “You are not here to be blessed. You are here to do war.” 

The militant gathering — marketed to draw “A Million Women” (it did not) — was riven with apocalyptic urgency. And it culminated with religious leaders taking up sledge hammers and pick-axes to destroy a replica of a pagan altar to an ancient goddess of “sexual immorality.” Staged in front of the U.S. Capitol, which was desecrated by many of their co-religionists four years ago, this spectacle of destruction evoked dark memories of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Ché Ahn, a towering figure in this extremist movement, closed the ceremony by issuing an “apostolic decree” — steeped in the violent, Old Testament story of Jehu and Jezebel. (In that telling, Jezebel is a fornicating devotee of a false god; Jehu has her thrown out a window — to be trampled by horses and eaten by dogs.) “Trump will win on November the 5th” Ahn prophesied, and “‘Kam-munist’ Harris” will be “cast out” and defeated, he said, “in Jesus’ mighty name.”

This collection of Christian nationalist leaders — who summoned tens of thousands to the Mall — espoused views of the far right, including that queer people are “possessed” by demons, and can be converted to heterosexuality; that the nation should pursue total abolition of abortion; and that same-sex marriage must be abolished. They also declared that America was established to “serve” the Christian God, and must return to that “covenant” relationship.

This agenda is more extreme than anything in Project 2025. Yet far from disavowing this movement, Trump has actively sought its support. And its leaders profess their faith that Trump would be their champion from the White House. Moreover, their violent rhetoric — about “armies” and “generals” and “warfare” and “battle stations” — signals that these zealots may, once again, be willing to spark a bloody fight to get Trump back to the Oval Office, regardless of how Americans vote in the 2024 election. 

Matthew Taylor is a scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies, and author of The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy. He attended the Oct. 12 rally and heard direct echoes of the rhetoric that spilled over into physical violence four years ago. Tayor warns the nation could be in for a rerun if Trump loses in November. “I don’t think you’d see the exact replica of Jan. 6 play out,” he tells Rolling Stone. “But this is how religious nationalist violence is instigated.”

The Oct. 12 event was organized by Jenny Donnelly, a former multi-level marketer who has become a meteoric figure in a Christian supremacist movement called the New Apostolic Reformation. The event, centering Christian women, was galvanized by religious bigotry against queer people — summoning mothers to battle to the supposed demonic appeal of the LGBTQ movement. As Donnelly put it on stage, “The Enemy” — i.e. Satan — “is after our kids.” 

The NAR movement is characterized by an obsession with power, and seeks to impose far-right Christian dominion over America as a precondition for the second coming of Jesus. Emerging from Charismatic Christianity (think: Pentecostalism), NAR adherents believe that “gifts of the spirit,” including prophesy and performing miracles, are not ancient bygones of a biblical era, but available to modern-day Christians. And they believe that the physical world is influenced by a constant, invisible, supernatural warfare — against literal demons, and even false gods, who hold sway over our nation’s culture and politics.

As Rolling Stone has explored, NAR leaders have an outsized role in U.S. politics. They have been pivotal in the embrace of Trump by the broader evangelical community. Lance Wallnau is a NAR leader who gave evangelicals a frame to understand the thrice-married, biblically illiterate Trump as a “Cyrus,” referring to an Old Testament heathen king who nonetheless advanced the cause of believers. Wallnau has met with Trump, been invited to Mar-a-Lago, and recently hosted an event with Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance. 

Dutch Sheets is the NAR leader behind the misappropriation of the American Revolutionary-era “Appeal to Heaven” flag as a banner of Christian nationalism. It has since been adopted by House Speaker Mike Johnson, the wife of Justice Samuel Alito, and the arch-conservative Supreme Court moneyman Leonard Leo. 

Ahn, a California preacher who serves as a pope-like figure in the NAR movement, spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally to keep Trump in office on Jan. 5, 2021, prophesying: “We’re gonna rule and reign through President Trump and under the lordship of Jesus Christ.” 

NAR is a Christian movement, but carries few messages of Jesus’ love. It roots itself in Old Testament practices and holidays — hence the “Million Women” event being staged on Yom Kippur, a Jewish day of atonement — as well as violent stories from that book. The Million Women event likened female attendees to “Esthers,” invoking the Jewish bride of a much-feared Persian king, who risked losing her own life by speaking up to the king to stop a pogrom against Jews. In that story, her gumption is rewarded, and the tables are turned: The Jews, with the ruler’s backing, exact bloody revenge on their enemies. (In NAR’s patriarchal structure, women move at the encouragement of men. Donnelly’s NAR mentor, “Papa” Lou Engle, positioned himself, and the many men in the audience, as following the example of Mordechai, Esther’s uncle who spurred her to action.)

NAR is a loosely organized movement. Yet Donnelly’s event drew an A-list of its leaders, prophets and apostles — including Wallnau and Sheets; Cindy Jacobs, a leading woman apostle; and Gene Bailey, host of the NAR-adjacent Christian nationalist news program Flashpoint, who has interviewed Trump. Bestselling author Jonathan Cahn, a MAGA-aligned “Messianic Rabbi” — meaning a Jewish religious leader who accepts Jesus as the messiah — guided the Christians through the finer points of Yom Kippur, before leading the destruction of the pagan altar.

The event, which stretched on more than eight hours, showcased the Manichean, us-versus-them, good-versus-evil thinking that is the most troubling part of the modern Christian supremacist movement. Says Taylor, the scholar: “They are literally demonizing their political opponents, literally equating Kamala Harris with a demon — and not just Harris. It’s the Democrats, it’s liberal teachers, it’s the woke media.” By contrast, Taylor adds, the NAR leaders are telling the assembled masses: “‘We are the Army of Light. We’re on the side of the angels and we have the special authority to destroy these demons.’ They’re using violent rhetoric to gin up these crowds.”

In person, the gathering evoked the impression that a megachurch had been transplanted onto the Mall. Sermons were set to an emotive backing-track of synthesizers, and translated into Spanish on large screens throughout the Mall, a nod to the large contingent of Latinos present. Audience members — distributed down blocked-off greens of the Mall, sitting on picnic blankets and lawn chairs — swayed and turned their palms to the stage and sky in meditative prayer. 

Throughout the crowd, flags of nations and religious movements fluttered over spectators, who watched speakers projected on large screens. With their fashion choices, mothers in the crowd likened themselves to lions and bears, centering the protection of their children on T-shirts, hats, flags, and pins. Merchandise and signs emblazoned with #DontMessWithOurKids were a crowd favorite. One disturbing slogan stood out, emblazoned on black shirts that contrasted starkly with the otherwise colorful crowd: “If I Perish, I Perish.”

“Army of God”

Donnelly was explicit in her message to the crowd that she wants to make a leap from spiritual warfare to a physical version. Donnelly was a “hall of fame” earner for a multi-level-marketing business that got busted as a pyramid scheme. She’s since taken her skills into the religious realm as a preacher in Portland, Oregon. A strident Christian nationalist, Donnelly described how she became “convicted,” in the faith sense, of her biblical “commission” to exert authority in the world “and govern it.” 

Donnelly highlighted the difference between what she described as a two-pronged battle plan for the “Army of God.” First there’s the “air game,” she said — describing spiritual warfare wherein Christians battle demons in the supernatural realm. But Donnelly also voiced her desire for a “ground game” where such militancy is translated into real life. 

“I want to know when we leave the locker room and we get on the battlefield,” she told the crowd. “Is that moment coming, because I want to be a part of it,” she added, insisting that it would be a “godly” fight to “protect our kids.” Donnelly emphasized to her listeners that it could be a fight to the death, giving meaning to the t-shirt slogan: “Even if we have to say what Esther said: ‘If I perish, I perish.’”

Taylor finds such rhetoric chilling, saying it has a likelihood of spilling into real conflict. “How do you instigate mass violence?” he asks. “As a psychological principle, it’s usually defensive. ‘You need to take violent action to stop a threat.’ And if you really want people to get into a mindset of violence, you don’t tell them, ‘This is a threat to you,’ but, ‘This is a threat to your children.’”

“Our Governmental Moment”

Lance Wallnau is the NAR leader synonymous with the “Seven Mountains Mandate,” calling for conservative Christians to gain control of society by capturing the mountaintops of culture — including business, education, entertainment, and politics. Wallnau speaks more like an infomercial huckster than a man of God, but he has built a large audience, including a million Facebook followers.

During his turn on stage, Wallnau warned the Christian attendees that “secular” Americans “want to take the country from you.” But Wallnau told the crowd to look to the Capitol behind him, before “prophesying” that the “Ecclesia” — a Greek word for the church favored by the NAR set — “is going into Washington this year.” Pointing to ground zero of the Trump coup attempt, Wallnau continued, ominously, “there’s going to be a rising up of Christians” and a “showdown.” Wallnau told attendees that this “is our governmental moment” before asking prayer warriors to help “shift the atmosphere of the heavens,” because Yom Kippur is “the day in which God determines the fate of Nations.”

Without naming Trump, Wallnau insisted he was praying for the election to give America “an extension of mercy” and that a new MAGA term would give Christian nationalists room to maneuver — or as Wallnau described it: “48 months more” so that “the church may arise.” 

“Appeal to Heaven”

Dutch Sheets helped turn an old revolutionary flag with a pine tree and the “Appeal to Heaven” motto on it into an emblem of Christian nationalism. Sheets has long preached a militant brand of Christianity. He presents himself as a modern-day apostle and likens himself to a “general” — whereas most pastors he derides as “medics.” He has preached that Christians can’t make progress if they’re led by medics, instead of generals because, “everybody’s gonna feel good — but you ain’t gonna win any war.” 

On stage at the Mall, Sheets leaned heavily into America’s revolutionary history, on to which he imposes a veneer of Christian nationalist fantasy, recalling “America’s founders” who “entered into sacred alliances agreements and Covenants with God.” Sheets claimed that the founders wanted America to act as “God’s government” on earth and that “America’s independence was won under a banner of prayer that read “Appeal to Heaven.’” (The pine-tree flag in question was a Revolutionary naval banner protesting the British Navy for stealing all the best timber in New England for its masts.)

Sheets then led the crowd in reading a new “covenant” decree “to symbolize America ending her covenantal alliances with… demonic entities” and recognizing the Christian God as the “rightful owner of… the United States of America.”

It included lines like:

“Mass Exorcism Revival”

Jonathan Cahn had a recurring role in the event, which he described as a “mass exorcism revival,” aimed at driving out demonic influence from American culture. He opened the ceremonies by blowing a ram’s horn shofar into a mic; he led the congregation in communion at sunset; he then took the first swings at the pagan altar to “Ishtar,” an ancient Messopotiamian goddess whom he claims is behind “the sexual immorality that that enslaves this culture.” 

Cahn repeatedly played to the Esther branding of the rally — insisting that Esthers had been leading the “war” against the “forces… raging against God” that have put America “on the verge of calamity.” He insisted that, in the sprit realm, “Esther cancels out Ishtar.”

The bearded rabbi was among many leaders who transferred this spirit battle into the physical realm. Unveiling a cement block replica of an altar to Ishtar, Cahn declared with a showman’s energy: “We are now going to perform a biblical act that I don’t know if this has been performed for ages.” 

Cahn described the pagan altar of Ishtar as the “altar of abortion, the altar of sexual immorality, the altar of pornography, the altar of transitioning of children, of mutilating them.” Adding to the militaristic themes of the day, Cahn said of the concrete platform: “if we have to get explosives up here, we’re going to do it until that altar is smashed and gone.” 

Cahn then picked up a sledge hammer and cracked the concrete top of the altar. Explosive munitions it turned out were not necessary, as others including Donnelly picked up pick-axes and hammers to deliver blows to break up the base.

“A Revolutionist for Jesus Christ”

Ché Ahn had a turn with a hammer. The man whom many of the speakers referred to as “Papa Ché” is the leader of a vast international ministry based out of Southern California. Ahn added the militant air of the proceedings by calling on each attendee to be “a revolutionist for Jesus Christ.”

As the altar of Ishtar lay in rubble, Ahn turned his attention to another of the ancient world’s wicked women — Jezebel — whom Cahn had earlier insisted worshiped Ishtar. He denounced the demonic spirits that supposedly hold sway in his Golden State. “Jezebel has a stronghold — under Istar — and she resides in San Francisco,” Ahn said. He then rattled off top Democratic politicians he suggested were under the sway of pagan spirits. “San Francisco has given us [Gavin] Newsom, [Nancy] Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein — and Kamala Harris,” he said.

Ahn then called “all the apostles and prophets to stand behind me” as he prepared to make his “apostolic decree.” He referred to Donald Trump as “a type of Jehu” and underscored his belief that “Kamala Harris is a type of Jezebel.” He did not explore the violent murder of Jezebel by forces loyal to Jehu, assuming his listeners would understand the bloody subtext of him saying, “Jehu cast out Jezebel.”

Ahn then said: “I decree in Jesus’ mighty name and I decree it by faith that Trump will win on November the 5th, he will be our 47th president.” It was a remarkable, partisan moment — revealing the entire day to be little more than a Trump rally in disguise, as he blasted Harris using as a “Kam-munist,” mashing up the vice president’s first name and the word communist, insisting she too will be “cast out.”

For experts in the New Apostolic Reformation, Ahn’s language was received as a coded call to violence. “It’s incredibly dangerous rhetoric,” says Taylor. “It mirrors the rhetoric that Ché Ahn was using to stir up the crowds on January 5. It’s not like, ‘Gosh, I wonder where this could lead.’ We know exactly where this led,” Taylor continues. “He’s now using the same dehumanizing, demonizing vision of Harris and the Democrats as the allies or puppets of demons — and Trump as the avatar of the kingdom of God.”

Taylor cautions that we don’t know how the election will play out. But he insists that militant events like Saturday’s spectacle on the National Mall, “are creating the mentality through which political violence — religiously inflicted political violence — can occur.”