A video shows Reading, Pennsylvania, police arresting a man after he tries to read a Bible verse during public Pride event.
Damon Atkins was attempting to read 1 Corinthians 14:33 when the police confronted him. The Bible verse reads, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.” (RELATED: Trans Activists, Anti-Child Castration Groups Draw Battle Lines Around Definition Of ‘Child Abuse’)
“Let them have their day. Respect it,” an officer told him.
“You know who’s cheering for us? The people that are in hell,” Atkins responded.
After an interaction with police, officers stood between Atkins and the crowd attending the Pride event. When Atkins again began reading off the Bible verse, an officer said, “That’s it. You’re done,” and arrested him.
A Christian man in Pennsylvania has been arrested for reading the Bible.
Damon Atkins was reading a verse from 1 Corinthians 14:33 – during a Pride event in Reading, Pennsylvania but was arrested before he could finish the verse. pic.twitter.com/Pu7kwLe1k7
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) June 6, 2023
Police told the Daily Caller that Atkins was not arrested for reading the Bible verse, but for his noise levels while doing so.
“He was not arrested for reading a bible verse,” a representative for the chief of police told the Caller. “He was arrested for being disorderly.”
“His volume was at a level that he was heckling a preplanned and permitted event,” the spokesperson continued. “He was given an area he was allowed to protest in, and was asked to keep volume at a level that was not problematic or that was inciting public inconvenience.”