Protest/Rally at the Federal Building
Saturday, Aug 2, 11:00 am
11000 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA

A militant group called ISIS, or Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, took control of Mosul - the second largest city in Iraq.

Soon after, the native Assyrian Christian population was targeted.

“They were told you either leave, convert to Islam, or we’re going to kill you,” said Assyrian National Broadcasting (ANB) anchor Romena Jones.

ANB broadcast a two-hour special report Wednesday night via global satellite on the crisis from its studio in San Jose.

“You see Gaza, you see Ukraine, they talk about the airplane crashes but you do not hear anything about the Assyrians,” she said.

Assyrians are an indigenous Christian minority in Iraq that has faced persecution in the region for millennia.

By some estimates, 20,000 Assyrians lived in Mosul before ISIS took control of the city. They had a deadline of Saturday to leave or convert.

Now, some fear ISIS will spread its reach further north in Iraq into areas even move heavily populated by Assyrians.

The hope is that the global protests Saturday will finally bring attention to their plight.

“We need help from the Christian community. We need help from the world,” Jonas said.