Media coverage of Christian nationalist activist, preacher and musician Sean Feucht’s Canadian tour, which has seen several scheduled performances cancelled, has described Feucht as a “Christian musician” or “MAGA performer,” often alluding to his “controversial views.”
Seldom highlighted are Feucht’s associations with far-right extremist groups, including an organization listed as a terrorist entity in Canada, or allegations of abuse and financial impropriety from former followers, including one who alleges Feucht pressured him into smuggling undeclared merchandise through Canadian customs.
When the City of Montreal refused to grant Feucht a permit to perform in July, a Spanish Catholic church in Montreal chose to host him anyway; the city government responded by fining the church $2,500.
Authorities in Alberta, however, have taken a different approach towards his scheduled Aug. 22 concert at the Legislature's bandshell, which pro-2SLGBTQ+ activists have promised to protest.
While Feucht initially submitted an incomplete permit application for the show, a representative of Alberta Infrastructure told the Edmonton Journal that the department is “taking steps to help organizers submit a complete application” to ensure the event complies with “security protocols, public safety, and venue guidelines.”
Alberta Infrastructure didn’t reply to a request for comment on whether there are circumstances under which its employees would decline to assist an applicant who filled out an incomplete application.
Alberta NDP Deputy House Leader David Shepherd has called on the UCP government to cancel the permit for Feucht’s performance on the Legislature grounds.
“The government has a responsibility to ensure that public spaces—like the Alberta Legislature grounds—uphold the principles of inclusion and belonging for everyone,” said Shepherd in a statement.
“Platforming a performer who has expressed hateful views is an inappropriate use of that space.”
Former GOP candidate Feucht’s place in the far-right ecosystem
Teddy Wilson, a Texas-based journalist and researcher who focuses on connections between the U.S. and global far right, told the Progress Report that within the broader Christian nationalist movement, Feucht adheres to the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).
Followers of NAR believe that Christian nationalists must secure dominion over the “seven mountains” of society—family, religion, education, media, arts and entertainment, business, and government—and that the movement’s leaders are modern day prophets or apostles.
In 2019, Feucht claimed he was called on by God to run for U.S. Congress in California. By the end of the year, he was part of a delegation of 50 evangelical leaders who were invited to meet President Donald Trump at the White House.
Feucht increased his prominence in 2020 as an active opponent of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, which he argued persecuted Christians by infringing on their ability to worship in person.
“He watched his career unfold and has spent the last five years on a non-stop tour,” explained Wilson, who writes the Radical Reports newsletter. “He does these big events, whether there are concerts or old school tent revivals in different places, traveling around the country.”
Feucht tends to schedule his events “based on what is happening in certain cities, and how can kind of insert himself into it and get the most publicity,” said Wilson.
In addition to anti-lockdown events, Feucht made a concerted effort to schedule events in cities that held mass protests against police violence throughout 2020.
That same year, Feucht called the Black Lives Matter a “fraud” and a “dark movement with hidden agendas.”
“His rhetoric has gotten more extreme as the years have gone on,” said Wilson. “These folks have to use more extreme rhetoric and be more explicit about things to get the same engagement online and eyeballs on that movement.”
Feucht, he added, is “relatively unapologetic about his associations with far-right extremists.”
At an August 2021 event in Portland, Oregon, with Calgary hate preacher Artur Pawlowski, Feucht hired members of the Proud Boys—a far-right group that Public Safety Canada designated as a terrorist entity six months earlier—as security.
Proud Boys who appeared at Feucht’s event with Pawlowski included Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, who was convicted in January 2020 of beating up an anti-fascist protestor, and Jeffrey Grace, who was criminally charged in connection with the Jan. 6 capitol riot.
Feucht posted a photo on Twitter from Portland on Aug. 8 with members of his security team, whom he described as “ex-military, ex-police, private security & most importantly LOVERS OF JESUS & freedom.”
“If you mess with them or our 1st amendment right to worship God – you’ll meet Jesus one way or another,” he added.
In August 2021, Sean Feucht posted a photo on Twitter showing his armed security detail, which included members of the Proud Boys. (Twitter/Sean Feucht)
After the event, Feucht’s security team fired paintball guns at anti-fascist counterprotestors who lit smoke grenades and attempted to dismantle the sound system, with one armed guard pointing a rifle at a journalist.
After the clashes, Grace’s bail conditions were amended to prohibit him from “possessing any firearms, weapons, or destructive devices,” with prosecutors citing his role as armed security at the event. Previously, his conditions only required him not to possess illegal weapons.
In 2022, Feucht organized a protest outside Walt Disney Company headquarters in Burbank, California, after the company criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s legislation prohibiting discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms from kindergarten to Grade 3.
He later called Pride month a “demonic agenda seeking to destroy our culture and pervert our children.”
Former followers have accused Feucht of fraud, embezzlement, and pressuring them to commit crimes
Feucht hasn’t only attracted criticism for his far-right political views and associations.
In addition to running his own ministry, Feucht runs several non-profits, including Burn 24/7, Light a Candle, Hold the Line and Let Us Worship. All of these are ministry organizations focused on spreading Christianity and advocating for the rights of Christians, in the U.S. and abroad.
Let Us Worship, despite being based in and primarily operating in the United States, is heavily focused on Canadian politics.
The organization’s website claims that “Canada’s bureaucratic class, backed by powerful politicians, is silencing the faithful, banning our voices, and targeting our God-given right to declare His goodness,” and urges Americans to donate to support its political work in Canada. Feucht’s tour this year is under the Let Us Worship brand.
A group of his former followers have accused him of “serious moral, ethical, financial, organizational and governance failures,” urging authorities to investigate him for fraud, embezzlement and donation diversion.
According to his former followers, the COVID-19 pandemic provided a major financial boon for Feucht, with his rallies in the streets of major U.S. cities to protest public health restrictions leading to a $5-million USD increase to his ministry’s revenue.
The bulk of these funds appear to have been invested in real estate. Feucht purchased homes in Washington, D.C., San Juan Capistrano, California, and Bigfork, Montana, as well as rental properties in California and Pennsylvania.
In 2022, his organization was classified as a church for taxation purposes, allowing Feucht to avoid publicly disclosing its finances.
MinistryWatch, a Christian group that evaluates the transparency of various ministries, gives Sean Feucht Ministries a donor confidence score of 19 per cent, placing it in the ‘withhold giving’ category.
Liam Bernhard, a former organizer with Burn 24/7 in Oklahoma City, said his chapter only received $1,000 in revenue over seven years, with the rest of the funds raised going directly to Feucht.
When Bernhard confronted him about financial irregularities, Feucht attacked him as a "communist," "fascist," and "woke."
"I felt like a shiny new toy for Sean to play with,” said Bernhard. “He often uses people as opportunities to get to the ‘next level’ and when people are no longer useful, he discards them."
Jesse Westwood, a worship musician from the Seattle area who used to tour with Feucht’s band, recalled Feucht imposing "spiritual mandates” to pressure his followers to sacrifice time, money and professional standards to help him grow his following.
"We would take off two weeks of work to tour with him and be his band for free,” said Westwood. “Sean is making tens of thousands of dollars per stop while we're barely getting gas covered.”
In one incident, Westwood alleges that Feucht pressured him to smuggle thousands of dollars worth of merchandise across the Canadian border to avoid having to declare it, instructing Westwood and his team to lie at customs and say they were “sightseeing” in Canada.
Feucht’s representatives didn’t respond to the Report’s request for comment on these allegations.