The organization at whose meeting these folks were arrested, just lost any legitimate claim to pride.
They should’a also carried a koran, displayed it, and shouted “Allah Akbar” when they encountered the police.
all-purpose...
Isaiah 5:20
I’m sure the ACLU will be right on this.
In the American tradition, the police force should be sued.
How come Fred Phelps never gets arrested??
I wonder why this female cop was so protective of the gay event.
Just wondering.
I wish I were a member of the NY Bar — I’d take this case in a proverbial New York Minute!
It seems to me that this is a golden opportunity for a lawyer.
Not allowed to pray in a public park? Not allowed to carry Bibles into a park? Not even allowed to cross the street and approach a park?
There’s not even a pretence that these guys were threatening violence or hate speech or whatever the latest liberal shibboleth is.
They should have claimed they were Muslim. In that case, the officer would have protected their right to pray in the middle of the gathering.
The devil, as it were, is in the details. That is, if the area had a use permit in effect, under many circumstances outsiders can be excluded.
Often religious groups hold events in public areas with a permit, and police can be asked to exclude individuals who intend to disrupt their event as well. And “disruption” is not a general principle, but is determined to a great extent by the permit holder. A Muslim who enters a designated Christian prayer site then quietly begins to pray in the direction of Mecca could be just as disruptive.
It is not limited to just that, as well. Adult only events where alcohol is served may exclude minors, animal training events may exclude owners with unruly animals (cat at a dog show), some political events can exclude disruptive people in public places. It is quite a long list.
Raising the banner is far more problematic, as it truly is a free speech issue. But crashing a party with a designated and authorized, limited area and limited time is not a free speech issue, it is a free association issue to which the courts generally find in favor of the permit user.
So - if it had been a Christian gathering in the PUBLIC park, and homosexual advocates decided they were going to go to the park and even quietly “protest” in whatever way they intend, would they automatically be barred from the Constitutional rights?
I doubt it...
Now - did this guy and his followers do this to get attention - quite possibly. But on the other hand, if all they did was enter the park carrying Bibles, lay down and pray (quietly at that), then exactly what law were they breaking?
If you don’t want the public to show up for your event, don’t have it in a public park.
Free speech for me but not for thee...
I’m glad Christian activists are doing more to confront anti-God, anti-American, anti-family, anti-decency, anti-freedom fags.
Being arrested in America for praying... something I didn’t think would happen in my lifetime.