Palo Alto Pastor Calls City's Rich 'An Elitist Den Of Hate'

PALO ALTO, CA -- A Palo Alto pastor is in the spotlight Wednesday after the City Council highlighted a series of political tweets he made, including one post that criticized the city's wealthy residents.

The pastor, Rev. Gregory Stevens, 28, of First Baptist Church, resigned following the City Council hearing where leaders agreed to give the church a permit to lease space out to groups, according to the Daily Post.

The tweets were deleted from Stevens's account, but the City Council included screenshots of more than 20 posts in its agenda.

In one tweet from March, Stevens wrote, "Palo Alto is an elitist s--- den of hate."

He wrote later that "Palo Alto is disgusting." In several more tweets, he also insulted the city and its residents.

In a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, Stevens said he tweeted to express his "frustration."

"I acknowledge that I did so in an unprofessional and often hurtful way," Stevens said. "My Twitter community has always been a small group of progressive ministers and Leftist political activists to whom my rants were geared."

The Chronicle reported Stevens plans to leave Palo Alto for San Francisco.

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