Columbia, SC (WLTX) — American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson, tried and convicted of aiding terrorism in a Turkish court and released on Friday, Oct. 12, is a graduate of Ben Lippen School.
Ben Lippen School posted on its Facebook page that Brunson is a 1985 graduate of the school, at the time located in Asheville. The school relocated to Columbia in 1988 after a fire.
Brunson, 50, was detained two years ago in Izmir, Turkey, on charges of terrorism in connection with an attempted coup. On Friday, Oct. 12, a Turkish court convicted him of aiding terrorism but sentenced him to time served and ordered his immediate release.
Brunson was the head of a small evangelical congregation in that city until his detainment.