Campus life was disrupted when a preacher and two followers began shouting on the quad while holding signs containing words of hate against numerous groups including Muslims and gays, on December 5.
Aden Rusfeldt, also known as Pastor Aden, is the leader of the Key of David Christian Center in Philadelphia. According to the church’s website, it is a “non-denomination Christian Church.”
Rusfeldt arrived on campus around 12:45. Two younger boys accompanied him, one filming on a camcorder and one holding a large sign reading “STOP SINNING OBEY JESUS OR HELLFIRE” on one side and the other it said,
Student Daniel Montero, waves gay pride flag in front of pastor yelling homophobic slurs on the quad. PHOTO: Gelareh Kolachi
“WARNING: HOMOS – WHORES – PORNO FREAKS – M—–BATORS – MONEY LOVER$ – WITCHES – LIARS – MUSLIMS – DRUNKS – SISSIES – THE POPE – ANKLE BITERS – GANGSTERS – WHOREMONGERS: OBEY JESUS OR HELLFIRE.”
Asked why he came to MCCC, Pastor Aden responded “We heard rumors that there were homosexuals on this campus and we wanted to love on them and share ‘Jesus or Hellfire’ with them.”
Rusfeldt started his preaching by holding up a sign reading “Do you have anything intelligent to say?”
Students responded with questions and soon began arguing with him based on their opinions of what Christianity is.
One sign said “Feminists are witches!” which was attributed to the book of Samuel in the bible, verse 15:23.
Asked about the sign, he said, “This sign is pretty self-explanatory. We didn’t make that up. God made it. That’s why we have scripture references. But we know people in community colleges aren’t as smart as university, so we put the references there so they could look it up.”
More than 100 onlookers gathered and reacted to the scene with the number growing and changing throughout the day.
One student yelled, “You know this isn’t free speech. This is hate speech.”
Pastor Aden shouted back, “I don’t hate you guys. If I hated you, I would have stayed at my job today and made money.”
Rusfeldt’s actual day job is unclear, but a recent report in the Philadelphia Inquirer notes that he was once a semi-professional snowboarder and was later “sued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Texas for defrauding clients. In a settlement, he was barred from giving financial advice and ordered to pay $1.9 million.”
The posters and signs carried by Rusfeldt and his followers all contained the url to ChristianInterviews.com. The url does not lead to an active page, but the same web address was on the posters used by preacher Jesse Morrell, who was part of a protest that took place on the Princeton campus last March and whose Open Air Outreach has a YouTube channel of over 13,500 subscribers.
Aden said he preaches at 32 different colleges and universities each year. He identifies as a street preacher. He also preaches at different Christian churches along the east coast.
Although Rusfeldt’s incendiary comments ran the gamut from Islamophobia to homophobia and everything in between, much of his hatred was focused on women, whom he referred to as “whores.”
Asked what his primary goal was, he listed getting “whores to close their legs until marriage” as central.
One female student told The VOICE, “He called us whores. One girl was wearing leggings and he said she was going to hell.”
At one point he asked a group of female students if they knew how to cook. Instead of answering, they returned the question.
Rusfeldt responded, “Of course not. I’m a man. I barbeque.”
He also asked the women if they had had abortions. He asked other similarly incendiary questions such as “Are you tired of being treated like hos?”
Two security officers were already present at the scene and one police officer from the West Windsor Police Department arrived around 1:04 p.m. More WWPD officers arrived later.
At one point while campus security was talking to the police, a student approached Rusfeldt and stole one of his anti-abortion signs.
Rusfeldt grabbed the student in order to get the sign back. The student escaped his grasp then proceeded to tear apart the sign with his hands and teeth.
At that point Rusfeldt noticed an officer approaching and threatened to press charges on the student. However, he did not appear to be following through, and no one was physically hurt during the event.
While many students engaged in the beginning, towards the end of the commotion, LGBT students waved rainbow flags, and lots of students danced to tunes like “YMCA” and “The Monster Mash” that were being played at top volume from the police vehicle.
Sharmila Sen, an English Professor, stated “I was outraged and horrified by the vitriol they were espousing against everyone who was not Christian, the LGBTQ community, and women. However, I admire our students and the police who neutered their hatred by playing music and dancing to it.”
As Mercer is a public campus, security and the police were not in a position to force Rusfeldt and his supporters off the property based on current college policy. Rusfeldt packed up and left around 3:00 p.m.
NOTE: Comments for this article have been closed due to the receipt of responses that include hate speech. The VOICE encourages community engagement and diverse perspectives, but our website will not be used to foster hate.
