The unnamed street preacher was reportedly in a public park presenting the gospel as a crowd closed in around him blowing whistles, shouting, and clapping to drown out his message. People attending the event say the preacher was harassing attendees and using slurs to describe them. They cheered when the police showed up and escorted him away.
The incident was shared on Facebook by another attendee, and the public has been split on whether the preacher was exercising his right to free speech or disrupting an event.
Daniel Schmid, associate vice president of legal affairs with Liberty Counsel, says it does not matter to the law if the preacher's speech was offensive, if his sermon was effective, or if people's sensibilities were hurt.
"We have a doctrine in the First Amendment, and it says that we don't recognize hecklers' vetoes," he tells AFN.
He says the First Amendment was built for unpopular speech, and in this case, Schmid does not think anyone would have complained if the preacher had been affirming the homosexuals in the park.
"Whether you like him or what he has to say or not doesn't have any implications for whether he has the right to say it on a public sidewalk or street," the attorney reiterates.
Meanwhile in England, where the protections for free speech are weak and almost useless, there has been a surge in arrests over "offensive" Christian speech and social media posts.
"The best way to protect it is to exercise it and to not tolerate it when your local government entities infringe that right," Schmid advises. "No matter whether you like the opinion or not, you need to stand up for those who want to speak."
According to Libs of TikTok, the man in this case was arrested, but there is no police report, court record, or mainstream news account that definitively clarifies whether he was formally arrested or merely removed from the event.
