Pastor and Aides Arrested for Reading Bible Out Loud at California DMV
People standing in line on the morning of February 2 at the Hemet, California, Department of Motor Vehicles had no choice but to listen to a man from Calvary Chapel read the Bible.
A security guard asked Mark Mackey to stop. He refused to do so and was laterarrested. After his arrest, the two men who had accompanied him, assistant pastor Brett Coronado and Ed Flores, were arrested for impeding business. Coronado and Flores reportedly did not read the Bible out loud.
According to their attorneys’ press release, “The men believed that they had a First Amendment right to free speech as they were standing in a planter within the parking lot and were located on public property. Further, they were not interfering with any business of the DMV and were not yelling or disturbing the peace.”
The men were charged with violating California Penal Code Section 602.1:
(a) Any person who intentionally interferes with any lawful business or occupation carried on by the owner or agent of a business establishment open to the public, by obstructing or intimidating those attempting to carry on business, or their customers, and who refuses to leave the premises of the business establishment after being requested to leave by the owner or the owner’s agent, or by a peace officer acting at the request of the owner or owner’s agent, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for up to 90 days, or by a fine of up to four hundred dollars ($400), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
(b) Any person who intentionally interferes with any lawful business carried on by the employees of a public agency open to the public, by obstructing or intimidating those attempting to carry on business, or those persons there to transact business with the public agency, and who refuses to leave the premises of the public agency after being requested to leave by the office manager or a supervisor of the public agency, or by a peace officer acting at the request of the office manager or a supervisor of the public agency, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for up to 90 days, or by a fine of up to four hundred dollars ($400), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
(c) This section shall not apply to any of the following persons:
(1) Any person engaged in lawful labor union activities that are permitted to be carried out on the property by state or federal law.
(2) Any person on the premises who is engaging in activities protected by theCalifornia Constitution or the United States
Constitution.(d) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to supersede the application of any other law.
Advocates of Faith and Freedom is representing the trio and has filed a complaint against the arresting officer and the California Department of Motor Vehicles. The complaint asks for a jury trial, compensatory damages and a permanent injunction against the Department of Motor Vehicles and its staff, employees and representatives from arresting or trying to stop religious speech at the Department of Motor Vehicle premises.
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