Reading Man Arrested for Quoting Bible in Public
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Anonymous
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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. As Atkins is being handcuffed in the video, the crowd at the pride event can be heard cheering his arrest. Atkins agreed to meet with The Lancaster Patriot to explain that the reason he went to the event that day was because Jesus Christ changed him, and he wanted to tell others. “The main reason I was there was because of love,” he said. “Because Jesus has taught me to love my neighbor as myself.” He attended another pride event earlier in the week and said a man told him that “if I had a gun, I would shoot you in the head.” Atkins said the message of repentance is viewed as hateful simply because it does not encourage the sinful behavior that is being celebrated by the culture. https://www.thelancasterpatriot.com/reading-man-arrested-for-quoting-bible/ |
Anonymous
| ? hmm... must be some city ordinance against preaching on the public sidewalk. We don't know the City's position, but it might make an interesting legal case. |
Anonymous
Charges dropped for man arrested for disorderly conduct at Reading Pride flag-raising READING, Pa. - The Berks County district attorney has dismissed the arrest of a man charged with disrupting a Pride flag-raising at City Hall. 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. 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. 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 They were trying to charge him with disorderly conduct. The charges were dropped because he was not being disorderly. |
Anonymous
| Preaching at a Pride event. Was it anti LGBTQ? |
Anonymous
Even if it was, that's not reason for arrest. That's not illegal. |
Anonymous
the article is just bare-bones, but it said he was across the street and quoted a bible verse. I don't see how that can be very "disruptive." |
Anonymous
| He wasn’t complying with an order for the police. Lots of people get shot for that. |
Anonymous
It is beyond dispute that the U.S. Constitution protects the right to express religious views in public. What’s more, for the street preacher, oral speech is specifically shielded by the First Amendment. The cop was beyond wrong. |
Anonymous
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Sounds like the police blew it.
But the love thing is as stupid and bs as the arrest. |
Anonymous
There are also laws against counter protests and blocking a sidewalk without a permit. Freedom of religion has guardrails. There was a reasonable suspicion that he broke those guard rails. |
Anonymous
| With only the information given here, it seems like this arrest was bogus and therefore the charges were dropped. It seems the officer felt he had a lot more leeway than the law actually provides. I’m glad the charges were dropped because the arrest shouldn’t have happened; however, I find this man’s use of religion as a disguise for hate speech repugnant. |
Anonymous
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People get arrested for something and more often for nothing all the time, and then let go. Not a big deal in US. Here, because of the bible, some people feel like they need to come to the rescue.
Next time that happens to be, I'll go for the bible verses to get outside help. |
Anonymous
The man clearly meant to provoke the people who were attending a permitted event. The officer was trying to prevent an incident. However, you can’t arrest someone in anticipation of something that *might* happen. |
Anonymous
Cops arrest under “reasonable suspicion “, the arrest was a good arrest. Charges were dropped because the DA didn’t want a circus in his court room. |
Anonymous
Some towns/cities have ordinances requiring permits for activities such as street preaching or counter protest; some have noise ordinances. No where have either of these issues been mentioned as a factor in the arrest of this man. The DA said he was arrested for disorderly conduct and subsequently dropped the charge against the man after reviewing body cam video. |