Assault at San Francisco Catholic church leads to violent police pursuit

An assault at a San Francisco Catholic church on Sunday led to a police pursuit that reportedly included setting off a pipe bomb.

Archdiocesan spokesman Peter Marlow said that the incident began after an individual received Communion but did not consume the host.

“There was a visiting person [also in attendance] who stood up and confronted the person and told him, ‘You can’t leave the church without consuming the host,’” Marlow said. “And the guy went off and punched him and ran out of the church.”

A police spokesperson said the responding officers encountered a suspect “with an improvised device”. They pursued him into another county before apprehending him.

City Supervisor Aaron Peskin told the San Francisco Standard that police said the man “set off a pipe bomb” during the pursuit before subsequently igniting a “Molotov cocktail.” There were no serious injuries, Peskin told the outlet.

The Iona Institute
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