Sunday, May 1, 2011

3 men arrested for reading Bible
'The purpose appears to have been to censor them'

World Net Daily

A lawsuit has been filed in California to protect the rights of three men who were arrested after being accused of "impeding an open business" even though the "business" was the local department of motor vehicles, and it was closed.

Oh, and the men were standing at least 50 feet from the entrance, impeding no one, according to the case that has been filed on behalf of the three men by the Advocates for Faith and Freedom....

The arrests happened on Feb. 2, 2011, when the assistant pastor from Calvary Chapel of Hemet and two church elders went to the public property. Mackey then started reading the Bible aloud.

Listen to an audio report of the situation in California

He was arrested less than 30 minutes later, and the two others were arrested a short time after that, even though they had not actually been reading the Bible aloud.

The men believed they had a First Amendment right to free speech and they were standing in a planter in the parking lot and were on public property.

A member of the California Highway Patrol approached Mackey, grabbed his Bible and arrested him. Then Coronado and Flores asked the officer, "What law was he breaking?"...




[Full Article]