On June 6, Newsweek posted an article about Damon Atkins, a Christian who was arrested in Reading, Pennsylvania, for shouting Bible verses during a gay pride event. I am not necessarily a fan of shouting anything, but I believe we do have free speech in this country.
The article reports:
The incident took place on Tuesday morning at a public Pride Month event in Reading, a Pennsylvania city located roughly 64 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The man, Damon Atkins, was captured on video in an altercation with police patrolling near the event after he attempted to shout a verse from Corinthians.
“Let them have their day,” an officer said to Atkins. “Respect it.”
…The officer, as seen in the clip, briefly moved to stand between Atkins and the crowd at the event, but turned back as he resumed reading the verse and arrested him.
…Responding to an inquiry from the conservative news outlet, the Daily Caller, the Reading Police Department said that Atkins was not arrested for reciting Bible verses, but rather for disorderly conduct due to his volume.
“He was not arrested for reading a bible verse,” a police spokesperson told the outlet. “He was arrested for being disorderly. His volume was at a level that he was heckling a preplanned and permitted event. He was given an area he was allowed to protest in, and was asked to keep volume at a level that was not problematic or that was inciting public inconvenience.”
Later, police claimed that Atkins engaged in fighting.
On June 11, Jonathan Turley reported:
The Berks County District Attorney’s Office has confirmed that it is dropping charges against Damon Atkins after the preacher was arrested citing the Bible in protest of an LGBTQ Pride event in Reading, Pennsylvania. The only reason that the charges were dropped is that a third party videotaped the scene and disproved the account of the arresting officer. Ironically, Atkins was reciting 1 Corinthians 14:33 that begins “For God is not the author of confusion.” That role appears to rest with the Reading police, which processed a wildly exaggerated account of the encounter.
Atkins was arrested on June 6 for “disorderly conduct, engaged in fighting.” However, a video of Atkins’ encounter with the police officer disproved the officer’s statement, as acknowledged in a press release.
For many, the case is likely reminiscent of the arrest of the woman for praying near an abortion clinic in Britain. Fortunately, this case was dropped.
Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach admitted that the arrest of Atkins was “unlawful” and “could open the City of Reading and their police department to legal action.”
Jonathan Turley’s article concludes:
What is notable is that, absent the videotape, Atkins would have had a difficult time refuting that he engaged in fighting. What is equally notable is the lack of any public statement on the repercussions for an officer making such a false charge. This was clearly a protest that was protected under the First Amendment. The violation of Atkins’ rights should result in something more than a shrug and dismissal of the charges.
I question the wisdom of going to a gay pride event and shouting Bible verses, but this story illustrates the fact that ALL Americans need to know their rights and be willing to stand up for them. Thank God for that videotape.