Hero Guard Says New Life Church Shunned Her After She Came Out
Jeanne Assam Says New Life Church Shunned Her After She Came Ou
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The church security guard who was hailed as a hero after shooting a gunman who had killed four people said she was shunned by the very church that had early praised her after she told them she was gay.New Life Pastor Brady Boyd denied accusations by Jeanne Assam who said she was told she was no longer welcome at the church after she informed them of her sexual orientation last year, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported.
Assam shot and wounded 24-year-old Matthew Murray on June 9, 2007, after he killed two church members in the parking lot of the New Life megachurch.
Police said Murray took his own life after he was pinned down by Assam's gunfire. Investigators determined that Murray shot and killed two other people at a missionary training center in Arvada the night before the church shooting in Colorado Springs.
Assam was working as a voluntary security guard at New Life Church when the shooting occurred.
Boyd and others, including then-President George W. Bush, praised her actions immediately after the shooting and hailed her as a hero.
Assam, who is currently working in law enforcement, told a public gathering of the Colorado Springs gay community on Saturday night that she had struggled with her sexual orientation and eventually accepted that she was gay, the Gazette reported. That's when she said she was ostracized from the New Life Church.
Boyd tells a different story.
"We would never tell someone to leave because of their sexual orientation," Boyd told the newspaper.
Former New Life pastor and founder Ted Haggard was sent from New Life for "restoration" after he admitted having a sexual relationship with a male escort.
Assam wrote a self-published book about her experience: "God, the Gunman and Me."
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