A newly released video depicts a woman terrorizing a church while holding a gun and her 10-month-old son on Easter Sunday.
Anna Conkey allegedly walked into the TsidKenu Church in San Diego around noon on April 21, waved a gun around and made threats to blow up the church, according to ABC7. She pointed the gun at several churchgoers and, at one point, even aimed it at her child.
The video shows 32-year-old Conkey standing behind Pastor Ben Wisan, who calmly told congregants to “get down and pray.” Wisan is also heard telling Conkey to put the weapon down because the police won’t know it’s just a taser.
The gun was real, though not loaded.
Shortly after police arrived, churchgoers tackled Conkey and disarmed her. They also took the baby to safety. When police arrested her, they found another gun hidden in Conkey’s undergarments.
Wisan says Conkey was a member of the church for three months, but he asked her to stop coming when she started trying to share extreme theological views, according to NBC and Fox 5.
Conkey uploaded a YouTube video on April 14 saying that God told her to give a message to the church but that the church leadership didn’t allow her to share it.
“They told me to go,” she says on the video. “They told me that they would call the police if I didn’t leave. I didn’t do anything. Like I didn’t do anything that was—I guess when I said I had more authority over the teacher, which is true because God told me I’m His messenger. I’m an apostle and I’m a prophet. And according to the Bible, a prophet and the apostle has more authority than the teacher. I happened to say that and then they told me to go.”
Conkey pleaded not guilty to felony counts, including child abuse and making a false bomb threat. Her defense attorney, Stephen Cline, says there is not enough evidence to claim she was actually threatening the congregation, reports Fox 5. Instead, Cline says, Conkey was merely using an unloaded gun to get the church’s attention.
Conkey is scheduled to appear in court again Oct. 28. {eoa}
