panelarrow

Lost Liberties: Arrested Outside a Mosque

| 13 Comments

This falls into the “What did you expect?” category. For the record, I wouldn’t do what these evangelists did. What’s interesting is that one of the men in this group is a friend of mine, Mike “Mad Mike” Stockwell, who was profiled here a couple of years ago when I first met him at the Ambassadors’ Academy. (Read about him here.)

This is a press release from “Repent America,” so the coverage will be, of course, one-sided.

PHILADELPHIA – Two Christian evangelists plead “not guilty” yesterday to false charges relating to their arrest for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ at Philadelphia’s largest Islamic mosque over the Fourth of July weekend. Their case now heads to trial.

On the night of Saturday, July 3rd, evangelist Michael Marcavage of Repent America (RA), and evangelists Ken Fleck and Mike Stockwell were compelled by God to witness at “Masjid Al Jamia” in Philadelphia. Upon arrival, they sang a hymn and began their outreach activities of open-air preaching and witnessing to the Muslims on the public sidewalk that were leaving the building. However, as they ministered, the evangelists were soon approached by a security officer from the University of Pennsylvania who told them that they could not preach on the public sidewalk outside of the mosque. When Marcavage stated that they were not leaving, the security officer radioed university police.
Within minutes, a swarm of security and police officers descended upon the evangelists. One of the officers, Nicole Michel, immediately confronted Marcavage, who was videotaping the situation, and assaulted him by grabbing his hand and forcibly turning off his video camera. The officer’s demeanor then escalated into extreme hostility to the point that Marcavage became concerned and called 911 to ask for a supervising officer to come to the scene.

When Officer Michel saw Marcavage videotaping the situation again, she declared, “He’s going [to jail],” and placed him in handcuffs while another officer stated, “All three of them are going.” When the supervising officer, Sergeant Andrew Malloy, finally arrived, he consented to the evangelists’ arrests. Marcavage and Fleck were subsequently taken into custody. Stockwell, however, was not arrested, but was commanded to leave immediately. As he left the scene, he heard Officer Michel stating, “I’m concerned about what’s on the video” to another officer. The video camera was not brought into the police station with the evangelists’ other belongings.

After the evangelists were released from jail and their belongings were returned, they discovered that police destroyed their video evidence by completely recording over the footage that had been captured. The mosque’s video surveillance, which is being subpoenaed for trial, will hopefully be produced and show the unlawful actions of police.

“Hostility is rising against Christians in America and police interference with the proclamation of the Gospel is now commonplace, which will only continue to escalate with the rise of Islam,” Marcavage stated. “Regardless of those who wish to silence and harm us, we will be faithful in preaching the cross of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation,” Marcavage concluded.Marcavage and Fleck have been charged with two summary offenses for preaching “disorderly conduct” and “obstructing a highway.” A trial date is set for August 10th at 9:00 a.m. in Philadelphia Community Court, 1401 Arch Street, 2nd floor, Philadelphia, PA 19102. Take action by clicking here.

“And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto Thy servants that with all boldness they may speak Thy Word …” – Acts 4:29

13 Comments

Leave a Reply

Required fields are marked *.