Arrested for proselytizing in the US?

[BlackTerrel]

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100712/METRO/7120412/1361/4-missionaries-charged-in-Dearborn-festival-proselytizing



Dearborn -- Four Christian missionaries were arraigned today on misdemeanor charges of disturbing the peace following their June 18 arrest at the Arab International Festival.

Negeen Mayel, 18, of California; Nabeel Qureshi, 29, of Virginia; Paul Rezkalla, 18 of New York, and David Wood, 34, also of New York, face fines of up to $500 each and up to 93 days in jail. Dearborn authorities said the four "chose to escalate their behavior, which appeared well-orchestrated and deliberate" as they handed out religious literature and talking with people at the festival. The woman and three men are members or founders of a group called "Acts 17 Apologetics."

But Ann Arbor attorney Robert Muise, senior trial counsel with the Thomas More Law Center, said their constitutional rights were violated and they engaged in no illegal behaviors.

"The encroachment of the First Amendment is just astonishing," said Muise, who said police confiscated the video cameras and have yet to return them, despite repeated requests. He said he would take the case to trial.

"We're not going to plead to anything because we didn't do anything wrong," Muise said.

City officials said police received a complaint of the members of Acts 17 Apologetics "harassing and intimidating patrons of the festival and that a large crowd was gathering."

The behavior of these individuals drew and incited a large crowd to a point where they were in violation of city ordinances, including breach of peace and failure to obey the lawful order of a police officer, according to the city's public relations department.

So their crime is "distributing literature and talking to people" and they can be sentenced to up to 93 days in jail?

Video was confiscated by the police but this is the same group from 2009 at the same festival.

YouTube - Arab Festival 2009: Sharia in the US (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPod-hxD7g)

[jkr]

huh?
i guess well have to fight them here after all...


wtf

[brandon]

Isn't this like 3 years old?


fuking stupid religious people.... facepalm

[brandon]

If the stupid arabs want to have their own festival then can't these retarded christians just leave them the hell alone? Why do they have to go there and try to start shit? god damn

[00_Pete]

If the stupid arabs want to have their own festival then can't these retarded christians just leave them the hell alone? Why do they have to go there and try to start shit? god damn

You militant-atheist retards just cant resist do you? :)

And if homosexual even worst... :D

[james1906]

First Amendment Akbar

Jihad in the defense of liberty is no vice.

[brandon]

You militant-atheist retards just cant resist do you? :)

And if homosexual even worst... :D

lol I'm not an atheist. I just can't stand little whiney bitches who try to get involved in others peoples business and then cry when it backfires.

[00_Pete]

lol I'm not an atheist. I just can't stand little whiney bitches who try to get involved in others peoples business and then cry when it backfires.

Whats your business with that? Any of your business?

*** :D

[Liberty Star]

US right now is in a serious Islamic appeasement mode. Muslims get the proseltizers arrested but Mikey got death threats when he tried to oppose proseltyzing of his children in air force. He alleges that the Church of the pastor who supported his view had his Church burnt to ground within hours of his meeting with him:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=mikey+weinstein++threats&btnG=Search

[brandon]

Whats your business with that? Any of your business?

*** :D

touche :)

[00_Pete]

US right now is in a serious Islamic appeasement mode. Muslims get the proseltizers arrested but Mikey got death threats when he tried to oppose proseltyzing of his children in air force. He alleges that the Church of the pastor who supported his view had his Church burnt to ground within hours of his meeting with him:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=mikey+weinstein++threats&btnG=Search

Commie-boy Whinestein is angry because "their" plan of making the US Military a facist butch-homosexual / socialist institution like the Nazi Brown Shirts were is falling apart...not only they are failing to do that but instead the US Military is getting full of Christians who are going to hand their arses over to them :D

Lets just say that if they try to "JFK" Judge Deborah (Sarah Palin) they are going to have a very bad time...and i will leave it to that ;)

And dont buy the "apocaliptic Christians" BS...that "Rapture" thing is already dead, "Third Wave" is here and we are taking over...some inside info for you, take it or leave it...hihihihi...

"The Bible says that the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. It is high time that we have top Christian businessmen, businesswomen, bankers, you know, who are men and women of integrity, running the economics of our nations. That’s what we are waiting for." - Pastor Thomas Muthee, Alaska Assembly of God, 2005

And we will...and we will... ;)

[Baptist]

If the stupid arabs want to have their own festival then can't these retarded christians just leave them the hell alone? Why do they have to go there and try to start shit? god damn

The Arabs can have their festival on private property then. You are against allowing people to hand out literature on public sidewalks?

[TonySutton]

All they had to do was follow the rules. Since they chose not to follow the rules they got in trouble. I disagree with the police confiscating video but honestly the group was there last year, I am pretty sure they knew what they were getting into.

[brandon]

The Arabs can have their festival on private property then. You are against allowing people to hand out literature on public sidewalks?

I'm against people acting like idiots. The only reason they went there was because they were looking for trouble.

[specsaregood]

The Arabs can have their festival on private property then. You are against allowing people to hand out literature on public sidewalks?

I'd bet they got a permit and paid fees to have their festival there on public property. The christians could do the same.

[LibForestPaul]

attorney Robert Muise, senior trial counsel with the Thomas More Law Center, said their constitutional rights were violated

Interesting wording

[BlackTerrel]

Isn't this like 3 years old?

No. The video is from a year ago. The arrest was just recent and currently going to trial and they can be sentenced with up to 93 days in jail.


If the stupid arabs want to have their own festival then can't these retarded christians just leave them the hell alone?

If it matters the guy in the video Nabeel Quereshi is an Arab also - most Arabs in the US are Christian.


Why do they have to go there and try to start shit? god damn

For the record I disagree with their methods when clearly they knew people would be upset. At the same time Christians have first amendment rights just like anyone else. There is no law that says "Christians can't talk about their faith around Muslims" and if this happened the other way around I believe there would be a huge outcry.

[BlackTerrel]

All they had to do was follow the rules. Since they chose not to follow the rules they got in trouble. I disagree with the police confiscating video but honestly the group was there last year, I am pretty sure they knew what they were getting into.

What rules did they break?


I'd bet they got a permit and paid fees to have their festival there on public property. The christians could do the same.

The posted video was from 2009 since the 2010 video was confiscated. Because of the drama from last year the paid a fee and got their own booth and only spoke with people that approached them. So far this is what they're being accused of:

Dearborn authorities said the four "chose to escalate their behavior, which appeared well-orchestrated and deliberate" as they handed out religious literature and talking with people at the festival.

If they did more than that then the authorities need to say so. But at this point the fact that they could potentially get 93 days in jail for that is VERY disturbing.

One of the reasons I think the US is the best country on earth is we are one of the only countries on earth where unpopular speech is not outlawed. In China you can be arrested for speaking against the government, in most Muslim countries proselytizing or insulting Islam will lead to jail or even death, in most of Europe it is illegal to say "black commit a lot of crime" or "6 million Jews didn't die in the holocaust" or anything else deemed racist. In the US free speech is allowed - but we've already seen censorship with South Park and Muhammed and now Christians are arrested for speaking of their faith around Muslims. It's not a good precedent.

[nate895]

Isn't this like 3 years old?


fuking stupid religious people.... facepalm

No, it happened last month. I followed it closely. They were there for a debate series between Christians and Muslims, including my favorite apologist, Dr. James White.

[TonySutton]

What rules did they break?


Near the bottom of the article referenced by the OP.


Festival rules require religious groups to distribute information at paid booths or outside the event.

[erowe1]

lol I'm not an atheist. I just can't stand little whiney bitches who try to get involved in others peoples business and then cry when it backfires.

You mean like when people try to use peaceful means of convincing others to share their beliefs about something and then get arrested for it and somehow fail to realize that they had it coming?

[tnvoter]

You mean like when people try to use peaceful means of convincing others to share their beliefs about something and then get arrested for it and somehow fail to realize that they had it coming?

Things like this are waking Americans up.

[BlackTerrel]

lol I'm not an atheist. I just can't stand little whiney bitches who try to get involved in others peoples business and then cry when it backfires.

Watch this video and tell me it does not creep you the fuck out.

YouTube - Dearborn Police: Defending Islam against the Constitution (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smw9QuH1xkA)

Look how many cops they sent. This is incredibly creepy. Worse than I thought. It is now illegal to hang out Christian literature in parts of America - this is scary stuff.

[jmdrake]

I'd bet they got a permit and paid fees to have their festival there on public property. The christians could do the same.

:rolleyes: You shouldn't have to have a permit or pay a fee to pass exercise your first amendment rights on public property. The only reason a permit or fee should be required is if you need to block off streets and have extra officers on duty for crowd control. I know this because I've actually gone through the permitting process for a similar event. And once you get your permit that doesn't give you some right to exclude others.

[jmdrake]

You mean like when people try to use peaceful means of convincing others to share their beliefs about something and then get arrested for it and somehow fail to realize that they had it coming?

http://www.s-a-f-e.org/FPPowerEditBackup/images/HammerNail.gif

Imagine the reaction of everybody if this had been Ron Paul types blocked from passing out fliers at a tea party held on public property.

[BlackTerrel]

Imagine the reaction of everybody if this had been Ron Paul types blocked from passing out fliers at a tea party held on public property.

Even outside. Check out the video in post #23. Silently handing out Christian literature a block away from the event and three minutes later TEN police officers show up, take their camera and tell them they will be arrested if they do not stop.

That video is incredibly creepy.

[John Taylor]

If the stupid arabs want to have their own festival then can't these retarded christians just leave them the hell alone? Why do they have to go there and try to start shit? god damn

Right, because the First Amendment doesn't apply to Christians. :rolleyes:

[specsaregood]

Imagine the reaction of everybody if this had been Ron Paul types blocked from passing out fliers at a tea party held on public property.

Funny enough, I got kicked out of plenty of public fairs/events back during the campaign for handing out RP material. Never got arrested or had any of my belongings stolen.

[BlackTerrel]

Funny enough, I got kicked out of plenty of public fairs/events back during the campaign for handing out RP material. Never got arrested or had any of my belongings stolen.

Did anything like the video in post #23 happen? Where you were outside the event. Didn't speak a word and simply gave someone a flyer and were approached by a huge group of cops.

I many times think people overreact. That video is one of the most blatant things I have ever seen.

If this was reversed this would be national news.

[Acala]

This is a problem inherent in the whole concept of "public property". There is ALWAYS a conflict of uses. The solution is to eliminate public property.

[TNforPaul45]

This is a problem inherent in the whole concept of "public property". There is ALWAYS a conflict of uses. The solution is to eliminate public property.

This is a problem inherent in the whole concept of GOVERNMENT. There is ALWAYS a conflict of GOVERNMENT. The solution is to eliminate GOVERNMENT.

[specsaregood]

Did anything like the video in post #23 happen? Where you were outside the event. Didn't speak a word and simply gave someone a flyer and were approached by a huge group of cops.

Yeah, a few times. There is always some douche in the crowd that will get offended by nothing more than being handed a flyer with information they disagree with.

[jmdrake]

Yeah, a few times. There is always some douche in the crowd that will get offended by nothing more than being handed a flyer with information they disagree with.

Well had this come to my attention back then I would have vehemently defended your right to offend stupid right wing neocons or stupid left wing socialists or whoever it was you were offending at the time. ;) Someone paying a permit fee does not public property into a "free speech zone". :mad:

[specsaregood]

Well had this come to my attention back then I would have vehemently defended your right to offend stupid right wing neocons or stupid left wing socialists or whoever it was you were offending at the time. ;) Someone paying a permit fee does not public property into a "free speech zone". :mad:

And I would thank you for that. But you catch more flies with sugar than you do with vinegar. I always ended up giving the cops that were running me off, handouts with RP info on them. :)

[kahless]

http://www.s-a-f-e.org/FPPowerEditBackup/images/HammerNail.gif

Imagine the reaction of everybody if this had been Ron Paul types blocked from passing out fliers at a tea party held on public property.

I had to go back and read some of the posts since I could not believe my eyes that I was actually reading anti first amendment for Christians in a Ron Paul forum.

[BlackTerrel]

I had to go back and read some of the posts since I could not believe my eyes that I was actually reading anti first amendment for Christians in a Ron Paul forum.

If the God Hates **** people can yell and scream outside of military funerals how come Christians (some of whom are Arab) can't silently hand out the Gospel outside an Arab festival?

This is one of the most blatant suppressions of free speech I have ever seen in the USA.