Welcome To The Pope's House
The Pope's Long Con
Louisville Public Media
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 13 December 2017
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Meet Danny Ray Johnson, Kentucky's fast-talking preacher-turned-politician who is known as the Pope. He paints himself as a 9/11 hero, healer of the sick and miracle maker. Behind this persona — cultivated, built up and fine-tuned over decades — is a web of lies and deception. A mysterious fire. Attempted arson and false testimony. Alleged molestation in his church.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From L.P. App. |
| 0:02.0 | Louisville Public Media. |
| 0:04.0 | A listener note. |
| 0:05.0 | This story contains adult content and language. |
| 0:08.0 | We're standing near the Bullock County Courthouse on a muggy afternoon in September, waiting for |
| 0:14.4 | a 9-11 memorial event to begin. |
| 0:17.5 | In front of us are rows of mostly empty chairs, a stage with a podium and a microphone, |
| 0:23.0 | hook and ladder trucks were draping massive American flags overhead. |
| 0:27.0 | We're here in hopes of talking to the master of ceremonies, |
| 0:31.0 | State Representative Danny Ray Johnson. |
| 0:34.2 | Johnson has crafted himself into a modern day American patriot. |
| 0:38.4 | He's pro-gun, pro-God, and pro-life. |
| 0:41.7 | He's a biker. He's a preacher, he's a self-proclaimed hero. And in November 2016, |
| 0:48.0 | he rode the Donald Trump train into public office as a state legislator. The story of Danny Ray Johnson's life is like |
| 0:55.8 | something out of Forrest Gump. As he tells it, he's been right there for some of the country's |
| 1:01.6 | biggest moments. |
| 1:02.6 | Set up the safe zones in Compton and Watts, California was there during the Rodney |
| 1:06.8 | King Wright. |
| 1:07.8 | A lifelong worker in the inner city chapel during 911. |
| 1:11.8 | Right to Life. |
| 1:12.4 | I set up the first phone number for Right to Life, an ambassador with |
| 1:15.3 | the UN for several years. I served as a chaplain to the White House under President's |
... |
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