Anti-LGBT Christian Rocker鈥檚 Ministry on Its Last Legs?
Bradlee Dean, the bombastic Minnesota Christian rocker whose venomous defamations of LGBT people (see , , and ) and at school assemblies have earned him a reputation as an anti-gay hatemonger, seems to have fallen on hard times.
Aaron Rupar, , notes that the Annandale, Minn., headquarters for Dean鈥檚 youth ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International (YCR), went up for rent earlier this month. Rupar that Dean鈥檚 staffers, including his infamous 鈥渟treet teams,鈥� have all walked out on him. Some of those teams raised eyebrows last year over what looked like when members solicited donors at a public location by claiming YCR was a 鈥渟uicide prevention鈥� organization.
Following a in July about a young Dean staffer who quit and characterized the ministry as a 鈥渃ultic sham,鈥� staffers reportedly compiled complaints of mistreatment and exploitation. They took them to the Minnesota attorney general and are reportedly working on a mediation proposal with Dean鈥檚 camp.
A source close to the situation told the Citypages that Dean 鈥渋s pretty much done.鈥� If that鈥檚 the case, it鈥檚 quite a fall for the man who once enjoyed an and with a rambling prayer suggesting that President Obama is not a Christian.
Here are some highlights from Dean鈥檚 long, strange trip:
2003: an Oregon-based, far-right Christian group with antigovernment 鈥渟overeign citizen鈥� leanings that seeks to separate from secular government. Dean 鈥渞enounced鈥� his 鈥渁llegiance to the world鈥� to become a 鈥渟overeign citizen鈥� in the 鈥淜ingdom of Heaven.鈥� The Embassy was run by Glen Stoll, who has been embroiled in a long-running legal dispute with the Justice Department after the government accused him in 2005 of operating a tax fraud scheme that uses sham trusts to help customers evade taxes.
2005: Under Stoll鈥檚 guidance, YCR reportedly organized as a 鈥渕inisterial trust.鈥� (The Ripple in Stillwater blog in 2010 if perhaps Dean has been caught up in the IRS鈥檚 investigation of Stoll and his schemes.)
2011: Dean against Rachel Maddow after in which he supports Muslims who called for the execution of LGBT people in America. He was that she made fun of his name and his music. He filed a similar suit against reporter Andy Birkey at the news site Minnesota Independent, which folded in late 2011 for reasons unrelated to the lawsuit. He hired attorney Larry Klayman to handle the lawsuits. Klayman is a far-right, former Justice Department lawyer who gained notoriety in the 1990s for filing numerous, meritless lawsuits against the Clinton administration. More recently, Klayman convened a 鈥渃itizens grand jury鈥� that has 鈥渋ndicted鈥� President Obama. He has and set Nov. 19 as the day Obama will be ousted from office, ending his 鈥渞eign of terror.鈥�
2012: Dean was ordered Maddow and the Minnesota Independent almost $25,000 in legal fees.
Dean is appealing his Maddow lawsuit. In early August, he that included his reading of the Declaration of Independence and the following lines: 鈥淭hink the Trayvon Martin/Zimmerman case was bad? You should see what MSNBC and Rachel Maddow did to Bradlee Dean. Help his lawsuit against them.鈥�
Whether Dean is truly finished remains to be seen. He continues to blog at the YCR website and he is scheduled for an Oct. 3 appearance at Richmond High School in Rockingham, N.C., as part of something billed as 鈥淟iberty Week.鈥� Dean will speak on 鈥淭he Price Paid for Our Freedom.鈥� He may yet have a few stops left on his long, strange trip.
