Share Tweet By Billy Hallowell Editor
September 16, 2024
A Washington pastor scored a major victory last week after being arrested at least twice for preaching the Gospel in public.
Pastor Matthew Meinecke’s battle against officials in Seattle, Washington, recently came to a close, according to Nate Kellum, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute. The lawyer told CBN News how the situation began June 24, 2022, how it was resolved, and why it matters.
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“What had happened was the city of Seattle effectively made reading the Bible aloud a crime,” he told CBN News. “And it first occurred on June 24, 2022. I don’t know if that date sticks out to you, but that was the date that the U.S. Supreme Court rendered the Dobbs decision. That was a decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.”
Meinecke was reportedly preaching during a huge protest against the decision in downtown Seattle, and Kellum said the preacher felt it would “be a perfect opportunity to share the Gospel.”
“So, he took his Bible and he goes out there to read the Bible,” he said. “He has very earnest pro-life beliefs, but that was not his purpose. He really just wanted to share the Gospel.
Meinecke started reading from the Book of John and “it was not received well.”
“Some protesters started to crowd in around him, started saying some inflammatory, derogatory things, [and] made him feel uncomfortable,” Kellum said. “So … he moved off a few feet away to a new spot, but then, at that spot, some protester grabbed his Bible and started ripping the pages out of it.”
And that’s not all. Kellum said the situation turned physical after Meinecke grabbed another Bible and resumed reading. That’s when he alleges “Antifa members got involved.”
“They started to pick up Pastor Meinecke,” Kellum said, noting they carried him around a block before dropping him on the cement.
Despite the pain and danger, Meinecke found another spot and started preaching once more. That’s when he was again confronted and reportedly knocked down. Kellum said the police intervened at that point, but, rather than helping Meinecke, they said “he was the problem.”
“Pastor Meinecke knew … he had a First Amendment right to share his views,” the attorney said. “And so he wasn’t just willing to walk away, [and] tried to reason with the police officers, but they arrested him, and they held him for several hours in a detaining cell until after the abortion rally had ended, really thwarting his opportunity to share the Gospel.”
#EXCLUSIVE: Earlier today, @SeaCityAttorney not filing obstruction charge against street evangelist @mattteamjesus. He was arrested twice last week for preaching during #RoeVsWade rally + #SeattlePride. Far left extremists ripped up his Bible and assaulted him. But they got away. pic.twitter.com/S4rFlHnKaH Jonathan Choe Journalist (@choeshow) June 29, 2022
Kellum said the reason for the arrest was based on a policy the police had that, if there was a hostile reaction to someone speaking, then that speaker would be asked to leave or stop their activity.
If the speaker refuses, as was reportedly the case with Meinecke, then the person is seen as “committing a crime,” he said.
“Instead of dealing with the individuals who are actually committing crimes, they were focusing in on a speaker who was really doing nothing wrong,” Kellum said. “And here [is] Pastor Meinecke doing nothing but reading the Bible.”
Two days later, Meinecke was again arrested at a separate event.
Since these occurrences, Meinecke has been challenging what unfolded, and recently scored what First Liberty is calling a “complete victory for the pastor.”
“Judge Barabara J. Rothstein granted him permanent injunctive relief from the unconstitutional police policy, compensatory damages for the wrongful arrests, and nominal damages for the constitutional violations, along with reasonable attorney fees and expenses,” a press release reads.
Kellum said Meinecke’s victory doesn’t only solve the problem for the preacher, but that police will also no longer be able to behave in similar ways in the future.
“Police have been put on notice that, if someone is peaceably speaking, you need to acknowledge those rights,” the attorney said. “You need to allow them to go forth with their First Amendment freedoms just like anyone else.”
CBN News reported on Meinecke’s plight after it began in 2022, explaining at the time that authorities purportedly deemed him a public safety risk for reading Scripture aloud near an event.
Meinecke discussed the alleged ordeal on X (Twitter at the time), with the faith leader explaining numerous police officers arrested him as he read the Bible in a park.
SPD has enough resources to send 10 police officers to arrest a preacher reading his Bible in a public park,” Meinecke tweeted June 27. “Because it’s such a horrible crime now!”
The man, who goes by “The Seattle Preacher” on X, included a video along with these proclamations that shows Seattle Police Department officers standing by as someone presumably Meinecke reads Scripture aloud.
SPD has enough resources to send 10 police officers to arrest a preacher reading his Bible in a public park. Because it’s such a horrible crime now! pic.twitter.com/pytbNDel9I The Seattle Preacher (@mattteamjesus) June 27, 2022
It’s unclear what happened before the clip, but one cop can be heard stating the individual reading Scripture can no longer stay in his location.
“So, at this point, we can no longer stand by the risk that you pose for public safety by remaining here, can be mitigated if you leave, your last chance,” the cop can be heard saying.
The preacher responds, “I don’t want to leave, because I’m not in danger.” That’s when authorities handcuff the individual, identified in the press as Meinecke, and the crowd erupts into cheers.
See the original report here.
When reached by CBN News, the Seattle Police Department declined to comment on Meinecke’s recent court victory.
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