Bethlehem Community Church in Laurel, Mississippi had advertised to the community that a “special guest,” would be speaking. A roadside sign said, “You’re not going to believe who’s coming to Bethlehem! It’s a surprise! Mystery Guest!” Then after the speaker had come and gone, a local newspaper called The Laurel Leader-Call posted a blurry picture on Facebook of a man who looked an awful lot like President George W. Bush, complete with men in suits surrounding him.
Local reporters from the paper were convinced that former President Bush had been the guest speaker, and the post on Facebook drew hundreds of comments.
But the guest was actually John Morgan, a professional Bush impersonator. After some time passed, the Leader-Call posted another update on Facebook that said, “George W. Bush was NOT in Laurel tonight. It was an impersonator. Tell us your thoughts.”
“The funny thing is that nobody ever said George W. Bush,” Morgan said. “They just said, ‘Welcome our special guest.’ ”
Some community members were angry and felt like they’d been tricked.
“Lying church! Remind me to never go there!” Deborah Crawford posted on the Leader-Call’s Facebook page.
On the same thread, however, Katelyn Taylor posted, “The church never advertised who was speaking and there was a sign on the front of the podium he was standing behind saying ‘impersonator’.”
One post said even the Sheriff’s Department thought the mystery speaker was, in fact, George W. Bush. The local sheriff, Alex Hodge, said that he was aware of the prank but did not share his knowledge with the police staff in order to preserve the joke. He said that those who worked security for the impersonator were volunteers and that it’s not unusual for local church revivals and events to need security.
“We had uniformed deputies who escorted him to the church, then I had some uniformed and some plainclothes deputies at the church,” Hodge said. “Once the cat was out of the bag, I started releasing my folks. Most of them stayed for the program, but some of them went on home.” Source
Impersonator John Morgan also had escorts in black suits who looked like secret service agents who typically surround a U.S. President. Many who attended the church service on Sunday believed they had been joined by the actual former president.