Patrick Hickey (politician) had only recently been founded. Hickey worked in the Unification Church as a state leader and regional spokesperson. In 1978 he was matched with his wife, Shin Myung-hee of South Korea, by church founder Sun Myung Moon. They were married in 1982 in a Blessing ceremony of the Unification Church, held in Madison Square Garden in New York City, along with over 2000 other couples. They now have four grown children. Hickey moved to Nevada in the 1990s and worked as a reporter as well as founding a house painting company. In 1996 he was elected to the Nevada State
Sun Myung Moon 1981 he said that he himself was a victim of racial prejudice in the United States (concerning his prosecution on tax charges in United States v. Sun Myung Moon), saying: "I would not be standing here today if my skin were white or my religion were Presbyterian. I am here today only because my skin is yellow and my religion is Unification Church. The ugliest things in this beautiful country of America are religious bigotry and racism." Several African American organizations and individuals spoke out in defense of Moon at this time including the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, the