A man was arrested and accused of trespassing while handing out religious fliers outside Pinnacle Bank Arena Saturday afternoon.
Larry Ball was one of a handful of men standing outside the arena as thousands of spectators for the Nebraska Boys State Basketball Tournament walked in and out of the arena. Pinnacle Bank Arena sits on public property, land owned by the city of Lincoln and the West Haymarket Joint Public Agency.
Ball, 76, in tennis shoes and a fishing vest, approached strangers and asked if they would like a small, green booklet: “How to Know God.” Security staff called Lincoln police when Ball ventured beyond the silver cylindrical traffic barricades nearer to the arena.
“He’s been warned several times and still chose to come up along the property, and that’s why he was arrested,” Officer Brian Ward said.
He was jailed on a single count of trespassing and failure to comply, but had posted bail late Saturday.
He told The Associated Press on Sunday that he plans to fight the charge. Ball said he had spent the last three days at the arena handing out fliers, and didn't pressure anyone who declined to take one. He acknowledged that security staff asked him to leave, but he argued that authorities had no right to remove him.
"I told them to go fly a kite — this was public property," he said. "My taxes help pay for that silly building. I like to eat out, and when I do, 2 and a half percent of my bill goes to it. That is public property, and you're not going to keep me off of it."
City Attorney Rod Confer said he was unfamiliar with the exact legal situation, but didn't know of any specific city codes restricting people from handing out religious literature on the arena grounds.
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