Franklin Graham Says Oregon Shooting Evidence of Persecution Against Christians in U.S.

Evangelical leader Franklin Graham has spoken out regarding the recent Oregon school shooting, suggesting that the recent mass shooting shows a growing persecution of Christians in America.

The shooting, which took place last week at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, reportedly involved a 26-year-old shooter asking students if they were Christian before shooting them in the head. Nine were killed in the shooting spree that lasted nearly 10 minutes, and the shooter committed suicide as police closed in on the scene.

Graham, who heads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, recently took to social media to decry the recent shooting and suggest it is evidence of growing persecution in the United States.

"Persecution and targeting of Christians isn't just in Iran or the Middle East, it's right here in America," Graham wrote in a recent social media post.

"The bold souls at Umpqua Community College who stood up to say they were followers of Jesus Christ were heinously gunned down with no mercy. Jesus said, 'If they hate you, remember they hated me before they hated you,' (John 15:18)," Graham added. 

Officials have said that an initial investigation into the shooting spree carried out by 26-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer finds that the suspect had a deep hate for organized religion and an admiration for other mass shooters. Mercer had reportedly recently posted about a man in Virginia who killed himself after shooting two coworkers at a local news station while on live television.

The suspect's father, Ian Mercer, released a statement saying that his thoughts are with the families affected by last week's tragedy.

"I know words cannot bring families back. I know there's nothing that I can say that can change what happened," Mercer said last week. "But please believe me, my thoughts are with all of those families and I hope they can get through this."