Seattle Police Arrested a Pastor for Sharing the Gospel in Public — Now the City Has to Pay Him

I wish the police arrested rioters and shoplifters the way they arrest Christians for praying and sharing the Gospel in public.

For example, in September 2020, the police arrested three churchgoers in Moscow, Idaho, for not wearing masks or social distancing at a peaceful protest singing psalms outside city hall. The city had to pay the Christians $300,000 in a settlement.

In 2022, the police in Seattle arrested a pastor named Matthew Meinecke for sharing the Gospel — the Good News of salvation — at two public events, according to First Liberty Institute. He was at a pro-abortion rally and began reading the Bible, holding up a sign, and handing out literature. They arrested him again two days later at a “pride” event.

The heathens around Meinecke definitely were triggered. The pastor sued the city of Seattle.

Here’s the other good news: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Meinecke’s favor.

The court said the city’s restrictions were “content-based heckler’s vetoes, where officers curbed his speech once the audience’s hostile reaction manifested.” The court concluded that the pastor “established irreparable harm because a loss of First Amendment freedoms constitutes an irreparable injury, and the balance of equities and public interest favors Meinecke.”

Seattle has to pay the pastor monetary damages for the false arrest, attorneys fees, and expenses.

“This result is only fitting,” said Nate Kellum, senior counsel at First Liberty. “The government should never silence the speech of a citizen just because an audience dislikes what it’s hearing. Pastor Meinecke is thrilled to put this case behind him and get back to sharing the Gospel on the streets of Seattle.”

#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 (@choeshow) June 29, 2022