A Christian protesting a Pride event over the weekend in Watertown, Wisconsin, was handcuffed and detained by police in a video that went viral.
Several members of the Christian group Warriors for Christ were evangelizing at the city's annual "Pride in the Park" on Saturday, an event organizers advertised as family-friendly.
In the video, Marcus Schroeder is reading from the Bible into a microphone when officers surround him and grab his microphone and speaker. As his group questions the officers, they handcuff Schroeder and explain that he was being arrested for violating a sound ordinance about noise amplification.
Jason Storms, a fellow member of the evangelical ministry who filmed the encounter and shared it on Twitter, told The Republic Sentinel that police had also arrested three other young people from their group who were praying and talking to attendees, on orders from city leaders.
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"The police, per orders from city leaders, arrested several young people. Three were arrested earlier in the day while inside the park praying and talking to attendees, and then released with warnings," said Storms, who serves as minister of evangelism at Mercy Seat Christian Church.
Storms alleged the officers were violating their right to free speech, as Schroeder was preaching on a sidewalk across from the public event. He told the outlet that the young man was "charged with unlawful use of sound amplification" and resisting arrest.
However, the Christian youth who were arrested said they didn't regret their actions.
"It was worth it. It’s actually an honor to be counted worthy to stand with the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us and been arrested for the sake of spreading Christ and his kingdom," Schroeder told The Sentinel. "If the police wanted to try and set an example for others or anything like that, the only thing I’ve seen is actually the exact opposite, where more and more people are seeing the severity of what’s going on and being called to more action."
Storms claimed that performers at the Pride event dressed in lingerie and danced inappropriately in front of "little children" who were "invited to give them one dollar bills."
The Unity Project of Watertown, which organized the event, encouraged families to attend, telling the media there would be a drag story hour and a children’s craft and play area.
Another Christian young man who was arrested said he would do it again to protect "innocent children from being sexualized by their parents."
"I’d do it all over again if it gives me an opportunity to share the good news and rescue innocent children being sexualized by their parents," Nick Proell said to The Sentinel. "God will use it for good. We will stand for truth even if we stand alone."
The arrest video drew backlash on social media, but was largely ignored in national media reports. Instead, it was a group of neo-Nazis disrupting the event that drew headlines.
Storms said their ministry had "zero" affiliation with the Nazi sympathizers, and he believed they weren't from the area. He told the Sentinel that his group tried to share the gospel with them as well as the Pride event attendees.
The Watertown Police Department and Watertown Mayor Emily McFarland did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrests.
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