Colorado AG files lawsuit to stop Andrew Wommack Ministries’ large gatherings
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- After Andrew Wommack Ministries abruptly pulled its lawsuit against the state Thursday morning, the Colorado Attorney General's Office has filed a suit seeking an emergency order to stop large gatherings at the Charis Bible College in Woodland Park.
AG Phil Weiser's office, along with Teller County Attorney Paul Hurcomb, filed for an emergency injunction late Thursday on behalf of the Colorado and Teller County departments of public health and environment. The suit claims that Andrew Wommack Ministries has repeatedly disobeyed a public health order and hasn't provided any proof to the court that its Bible conferences are following public health guidelines amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
This comes at the tail end of a nearly week-long ministers conference that started Monday. Hundreds of people were expected to be in attendance, according AMWI.
We've been reporting on the legal saga since the summer, when AWMI hosted a summer Bible conference that public health officials say led to a COVID-19 outbreak in Teller County. At the end of September, AWMI filed a lawsuit against the state alleging religious discrimination, but that lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice at the request of AWMI's attorneys Thursday morning.
During a hearing for a temporary restraining order as part of the original lawsuit, AWMI's attorneys would not confirm that the organization is complying with public health orders that limit capacity at indoor and outdoor events.
"Instead of presenting evidence to confirm compliance, AWMI instead voluntarily dismissed its district court case and Tenth Circuit appeal," said a statement from the Colorado AG's Office and the Teller County Attorney in court documents filed late Thursday.
An AWMI spokesperson told KRDO that the conference was adhering to safety guidelines, including making masks mandatory for all staffers and volunteers, along with enacting social distancing protocols. However, a video obtained by KRDO showed many guests inside the conference weren't wearing masks, and there appeared to be minimal social distancing.
The state's lawsuit against AWMI references our reporting on that video and statements given to KRDO. It also includes screenshots from public Facebook posts that show people inside the conference not wearing masks.
Before the conference started, AWMI filed its lawsuit and sought an injunction against the state from enforcing public health orders, alleging that the order "violated their Constitutional rights." The next day, on Sept. 29, a federal district court denied AWMI's motion.
AWMI filed an appeal in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals while the conference began as scheduled, and the state responded with its own motion asking for a response from AWMI to explain why the organization shouldn't be held in contempt. AWMI filed a response and a hearing was set for Thursday, but then AWMI pulled the lawsuit.
The new lawsuit filed by the state outlines the ways that AWMI has skirted public health order guidelines during multiple events, including the summer Bible conference, the Kingdom Youth Conference, and October's minister conference. It says hundreds of people have been in attendance when the public health order specifies a maximum possible indoor capacity of 175 people.
The state also alleges that "based on AWMI's past dealings, AWMI will again violate the public health orders" at two upcoming conferences scheduled for November and December.
At risk for the county, the complaint says, is its status for coronavirus health guidelines.
According to the lawsuit, "if Teller County experiences another outbreak, Teller County will not qualify for Protect Our Neighbors status." If the county reverts back to Level 2: Safet at Home and in the Vast, Great Outdoors, capacities at indoor venues will roll back to a maximum of 100 people per room while restaurants wouldn't be able to exceed 50 people.
Teller County Administrator Sheryl Decker says the county is still conducting case investigations and contact tracing from AWMI's event in July, and added that the county "remains concerned that AWMI’s conference poses a threat to public health in Teller County and the State of Colorado."
The state is seeking a restraining order against AWMI to prevent the organization from (1) violating Public Health Order 20-35 by hosting events in closed indoor spaces with more than 175 individuals total per room; and (2) violating Public Health Order 20-35 by hosting such events without attendees, staff and volunteers wearing masks and without social
distancing." The state also seeks "an award of reasonable costs."
We're still awaiting a response from AWMI.
