By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
May 10, 2007
First, there was a near miss with a pie. Now, surreptitious photographs of the embattled Rev. Don Armstrong are being posted, a la Candid Camera, by a self-described satire and gay-advocacy publication.
"Don Armstrong deserves it for any number of reasons," said Noel Black, publisher of Newspeak. The Colorado Springs publication has posted on its Web site nine photos that purport to show Armstrong parking his car illegally.
On Sunday, Armstrong nearly was hit by a pie thrown at him during the 9 a.m. service at Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish.
Marcus Hyde, the 18-year-old accused in the incident, is an occasional writer for Newspeak, Black said. Hyde did not respond to phone messages Wednesday.
Black denied knowing about the prank beforehand but said, "I think it's great, a time-honored tradition of political protest."
Black said that Armstrong has been ongoing fodder for the publication because of his history of opposing gay rights.Three years ago, he said, Armstrong's church was targeted in a "kick a church" campaign launched by Black's previous publication, called The Toilet Paper. It consisted of protesters literally kicking the walls of churches that represented anti-gay views. "Grace Episcopal was the first church we ever kicked because of Don Armstrong's extreme, in my opinion, opposition to the ordination of gays and lesbians," said Black, who describes himself as "culturally gay."
Black also said he was protesting what he called the "shady" revelations of alleged financial misconduct leveled by the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado against Armstrong.Armstrong says that the accusations are a vendetta because of his traditional Christian beliefs. He and most of the church's governing board have joined a conservative Anglican network, saying that the Episcopal Church in the U.S. has strayed from traditional scriptural authority by supporting, among other things, openly gay bishops and same-sex blessings.
Newspeak launched its latest Armstrong salvo when Black looked out of his office window on Bijou Street in time to see Armstrong "parking his shiny Jeep Rubicon . . . illegally in front of Starbucks," as he put it on the Web site.
The sequence shows one clear picture of Armstrong leaving his car and eight other photos purportedly showing the vehicle in a space with no parking meter.
"It's clear Armstrong was asserting his radical individualism while eliminating most of the core parking laws," Black taunts on the Web site.
Black said he expects to keep tracking Armstrong but doesn't advocate "anyone hurting anyone . . . I don't stalk people and I don't do things that are illegal. Our interest is in pointing out hypocrisies."
Armstrong's spokesman, Alan Crippen, said, "Following and stalking priests, disrupting services - this isn't reasoned public discourse but fascist tactics."
Crippen shrugged off the "illegal parking" photos and said, "I will confirm that the rector is a regular patron at Starbucks."
Priest's 'illegal parking' taunted
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