Reading Man Arrested for Quoting Bible in Public

[Elderberry]

WND 6/5/2023

'I guess the First Amendment means nothing'

A man has been detained by cops at a Pennsylvania "Pride" event after arriving with a sign explaining that Jesus said, "Go and sin no more."

And it's all on video:

The report comes from "Barely Preacher Man," who described the circumstance.

"Today, as our family was driving out of Reading for a family adventure, we saw that there was a Pride rally at the City Hall building in Reading City. I saw two Christian protesters out there, and so I pulled us over and I came out to support and encourage them," he said.

"I preached for 10 minutes or so until a tyrant cop laid hands on me and threatened to arrest me if I continued. 10 minutes later, another Christian protester came out. He stood his ground against the cop, and got arrested as shown in the clip," he said.

"Most of the attendants, drag queens and children had come from out of town, either Lancaster, or as far away as New York. The locals in Reading were not 'out in droves.' The Gospel went out, but it got pretty rough pretty quickly. Didn't have my GoPro or anything because I had no idea this was going on today. Just the Providence of God that we drove by it."

More: https://www.wnd.com/2023/06/wrong-quoting-bible-public-gets-christian-arrested/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXbzrxEuL54

[Timber Rattler]

https://www.thelancasterpatriot.com/reading-man-arrested-for-quoting-bible/

It took less than sixty seconds of standing on a sidewalk for Damon Atkins to be placed in handcuffs and arrested for quoting a portion of a Bible verse.

On Saturday morning dozens of people were gathered outside the Reading City Hall on Washington Street to participate in the city’s first ever “Pride March and Rally” endorsed by Mayor Eddie Moran. At approximately 10:05 a.m. Atkins arrived at a public sidewalk across the street from City Hall.

In less than a minute he found himself in handcuffs.

The entire incident was captured on film by Matthew Wear of Reading, Pennsylvania, who told The Lancaster Patriot that he had been preaching prior to Atkins’ arrival and was told to stop by the same police officer who later handcuffed Atkins.

Wear said he preached for about twelve minutes and then began filming the event from across the street.

Wear posted the video to YouTube, where it has garnered nearly 2,000 views in two days.

The video begins with Wear narrating and explaining that he preached until “a cop got in my face, laid hands on me, and threatened to arrest me if I didn’t stop.”

“They got drag queens, they got children here,” Wear said in the video. “They’re about to do a flag raising ceremony in this Satan cesspit.”

About a minute into the video, Atkins can be seen at a distance heading toward the event.

“It looks like some more men just showed up to support us,” Wear says at the 1:48 point in the video. “This cop’s going to give them a hard time.”

The video shows Police Sergeant Bradley T. McClure approaching Atkins, and the two interact for approximately 25 seconds.

Atkins can be heard saying “This is public property.”

McClure can be heard saying “let them have their event” and “respect them.”

In the video, Atkins tells McClure that he is respecting the people in attendance and said, “You know who’s cheering for us – the people that are in hell.”

Atkins later told The Lancaster Patriot that he was referring to the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in the Gospel of Luke, wherein a rich man in torment begs Father Abraham to send someone to warn his brothers about the place of torment.

Wear’s video then focuses on McClure as he walks away from Atkins. Atkins can then be heard saying, “God is not the,” and McClure immediately reapproaches Atkins and handcuffs him.

EXCERPT

This happened in Reading, Pennsylvania this past weekend.

So let's get this straight...ANTIFA and BLM can do just about anything they want and create all kinds of mayhem on public property with impunity but the Reading Police Department arrested this street preacher on a public sidewalk for protesting the local Pride event?

It's a world turned upside down!


https://youtu.be/NXbzrxEuL54

[Kamaji]

WOW!  That guy hardly did anything and got arrested.

It doesn’t take much to get arrested for disorderly conduct.  It really shouldn’t be an arrestable violation.

[mountaineer]

McClure can be heard saying “let them have their event” and “respect them.”

Yer bein' charged with felony disrespect. Prolly in the second degree. You have the right to remain silent ...

[sneakypete]

WTH?????

How is that even possible?

Have these cops never heard of "free speech".

He is gonna end up  with a TON of money from that city PD.

[Wingnut]

It doesn’t take much to get arrested for disorderly conduct.  It really shouldn’t be an arrestable violation.

the 2023 version of "Mopery" for cops.

[mountaineer]

The sad thing is that this is Reading, Pa., not some loony leftist metropolis.

[Gefn]

The sad thing is that this is Reading, Pa., not some loony leftist metropolis.

I haven’t been to Reading in years but the whole story seems strange to me

[Timber Rattler]

UPDATE:  Charges dropped!

https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/berks/charges-dropped-for-man-arrested-for-disorderly-conduct-at-reading-pride-flag-raising/article_49394ed4-057e-11ee-ab6b-db78758b84f4.html

Charges dropped for man arrested for disorderly conduct at Reading Pride flag-raising

The Berks County district attorney has dismissed the arrest of a man charged with disrupting a Pride flag-raising at City Hall.

A video shows Damon Atkins on the other side of the street the event on Saturday at Reading City Hall.

Atkins is heard talking with a police officer, saying he is on public property.

Moments later he begins quoting scripture in a raised voice and is immediately handcuffed.

Reading Police Chief Richard Tornielli said Atkins was being disruptive to the event and being disorderly. He said Atkins was not taken into custody because of what he was saying.

"Our officers gave him warnings to cease that behavior as it was disrupting the event that was taking place," said Tornielli.

(snip)

On Wednesday, the Berks County District Attorney's Office said after reviewing videos of the incident, the charges of disorderly conduct against Atkins have been withdrawn.

"After review of the video of the incident, including body-worn cameras, and a review of the case law, we did not believe we could prove a criminal case of disorderly conduct," the Berks County District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

[mountaineer]

Good news.

[Kamaji]

Good news.

Good news, but he's already effectively been punished for exercising his First Amendment rights.

[Bigun]

Good news, but he's already effectively been punished for exercising his First Amendment rights.

  The process is the punishment!

[sneakypete]

UPDATE:  Charges dropped!

https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/berks/charges-dropped-for-man-arrested-for-disorderly-conduct-at-reading-pride-flag-raising/article_49394ed4-057e-11ee-ab6b-db78758b84f4.html

Charges dropped for man arrested for disorderly conduct at Reading Pride flag-raising

@Timber Rattler

It can be safely said that I am NOT a Bible-Thumper,but I am shocked to actually  see a news story that is positive towards  both free speech and Constitutional Rights.

I also freely admit that "street corner preachers",just like other loons hanging around  on public sidewalks to plead their causes piss me off.

The thing is they have a right to MOMENTARILY piss me or anyone else off as long as they don't try to  follow me or  anyone else  down the sidewalk to keep pleading their cause.

It's called "Free Speech",and if you don't recognize the CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT of other people to have it,you  won't have that right,either.

Seems so basic it shouldn't have to be explained to anyone else,especially not to a police officer,who deal with things like this every day.