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Activist Minister Slams Regal Movie Theaters for Running War ‘Propaganda’ Before Films
The Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie, an activist minister with the United Church of Christ, has called on the Regal Entertainment chain of movie theaters to stop running a Department of Defense promotional video before films.
In an open letter posted to social media, Currie says that when he went to see the latest Steven Spielberg film Disclosure Day at a Portland, Oregon theater, he was “forced to watch an advertisement touting the leadership of Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and the so-called Department of War.”
“It was like we were at a movie theater in Russia or North Korea. Democracies do not do this. The audience loudly booed,” Currie wrote.
READ MORE: Trump Promotes Chilling Iran War Op-Ed Warning of What Could Be Coming Next
“We routinely see videos at Regal promoting careers in the military. This was not that,” he continued. “This was an advertisement promoting the political views of Donald Trump. It was not promoting our military. It was not promoting America’s greatest strength: our diversity. This was a MAGA campaign commercial highlighting a fake cabinet agency, the Department of War, which is actually called the Defense Department, and the MAGA America First platform.”
The video run before the film was likely this video first released to YouTube on Saturday. The video description calls it the first advertisement by the DoD since it was re-christened the Department of War. The clip touts President Donald Trump’s “Peace Through Strength” slogan. It features footage of soldiers intercut with images of Trump while audio of a speech by the president plays in the background.
The video was also shown during Sunday evening’s Freedom 250 UFC Fight at the White House.
“Regal’s decision to show this video can only be construed as an endorsement of Donald Trump, his failed war in Iran, and the white Christian nationalism advocated by Secretary Hegseth,” Currie wrote. “Again, I must demand that Regal stop showing this video immediately. Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Currie has been an outspoken progressive activist for years. In 2019, he even received death threats for his work, according to the Oregonian. Florida dentist Richard Glenn Kantwill told Currie, as well as other public figures, he would torture and kill him. Kantwill also called Currie an “immoral degenerate” and a fraud.
In 2025, Kantwill was sentenced to two years in prison for making the threats after pleading guilty in court.
Image by Staff Sgt. Michael L. Casteel via the U.S. Army.
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