Man Arrested For Reading The Bible In Public (Video)
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Why does it not surprise me that this happened here in California? A preacher is arrested for merely reading the Bible to a group of people waiting in line at the DMV.
More from the Canadian Free Press:
On February 2, 2011, one assistant pastor and two elders from Calvary Chapel of Hemet, California, went to the Hemet DMV before it opened and one of the men started to read the Bible aloud. Less than thirty minutes later, he was arrested for “impeding an open business” under Penal Code Section 602.1(b).
Shortly after the men arrived at the DMV and began to simply read the Bible out loud, a security guard approached Mark Mackey as he was reading the Bible and told him to stop. The men believed that they had a First Amendment right to free speech as they were standing in a planter within the parking lot and were located on public property. Further, they were not interfering with any business of the DMV and were not yelling or disturbing the peace.
About ten minutes later, a California Highway Patrolman approached Mr. Mackey as he read, took the Bible out of his hands, and arrested him. As the CHP officer was arresting him and putting him in his patrol car, the two men who were with him—Assistant Pastor of Calvary Chapel Hemet, Brett Coronado, and Ed Flores—asked the officer, “What law was he breaking?” Instead of identifying a legal violation, the officer asked, “Were you preaching too?” After continuing to ask the officer for the legal violation, Pastor Coronado and Ed Flores were also arrested by another CHP officer who had come to the DMV and were also cited for “impeding an open business.” Neither Pastor Coronado nor Mr. Flores ever read the Bible out loud anywhere on DMV premises.
The charge of “impeding an open business” was enacted in large part to protect businesses against protestors who block the doors of an open business. At the time of the arrest of these men, the DMV was closed, and they were standing at least fifty feet away from the entrance.
“This is an abuse of power on the part of the CHP,” said Jennifer Monk, Associate General Counsel for Advocates for Faith & Freedom. “The arresting officer could find no appropriate penal code to use when arresting these men. The purpose of the arrests appears to have been to censor them.”
After their arrests, these men were released, and the District Attorney has not at this time pursued any criminal charges. Prior to the arrest and during the arrest, Pastor Coronado and others videotaped the actions of the CHP, and a link to the edited footage can be found below. Advocates for Faith & Freedom has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of these three men for violation of their right to free speech and for unlawful arrest.
“Whether this was an intentional violation of our clients’ constitutional liberty or whether this was an act of ignorance on the part of the CHP, this lawsuit is important in order to preserve the liberty to read the Bible aloud on public property without fear of criminal prosecution,” said Robert Tyler, General Counsel for Advocates for Faith & Freedom.
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6 Responses and Counting...
I spoke with the CHP about this incident. The preacher was not arrested for reading the Bible. The preacher was arrested because, knowing that he could have done exactly what he did if he had got a permit or that he could have done exactly what he did if he moved onto the sidewalk, the preacher continued to preach on DMV property without a permit.
My concern is that, by acting like a nut case, this preacher is turning people away from the Lord instead of bringing people into the fold.
"My concern is that, by acting like a nut case, this preacher is turning people away from the Lord instead of bringing people into the fold."
Christians are called to preach the Gospel. This is the way it was done in the New Testament. Open air preaching has a long tradition. How are people going to get saved if they never hear the truth?
I wonder if the same thing would have happened if a regular guy got up and started reading out loud from Playboy, The Nation, Carl Marx or an Archie comic? Or was it only that they were reading the Bible … ?
Hmmm … I remember reading an article some time ago about some lawsuit or other having to do with Girl Scouts and Unions … something to do about the unions wanting the same access that girl scouts get to businesses (NLRB Case No. 30-CA-17185) . If they win (or if they have already won?) it means a business will have to make a choice to let everyone (including unions or maybe even nambla) onto their property for the purpose of handing out pamphlets or unionizing or whatever … or to let no one.
It's sad and laughable at the same time that unions don't care that as a result of their demands girl scouts, salvation army etc may be denied their traditional places of meeting and greeting the public.
That issue brings to mind another question in regard to the bible reading: What if some union thug was in people's faces reading to them about the latest and greatest union push for members?
I suspect the outcome would have been quite different – I would love to be proven wrong.
They wouldn't be saved if they didn't hear the truth, OK, got it. The point is the thing preventing the people from hearing the truth wasn't those darned old policemen or an uncaring DMV. The thing that prevented those people from hearing the gospel was the preacher's stubbornness in refusing to get a permit that would have allowed him to do what he was trying to do. His insistence in making a scene, of being able to say something like 'look, here's the police violating my rights!' was, based on the choice he made to not get a permit, more important to him than bringing the gospel to those people in line.
He knew the conditions that would have allowed him to bring the gospel to the people in line and he chose instead to make himself the focus of attention instead of the Lord's message.
Nowhere does this article mention anything about a permit being required. The men were NOT preaching, they were reading aloud. Also, the article says specifically that the men were on public property. The CHP officers were out of control, and this was an illegal arrest. If the article is giving false information, then say so. I suggest that you be careful when you plan to mock God's messengers, for then you mock God as well.
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