Christian Preacher Arrested For Quoting Bible Verses During Crowd Gathering For Pennsylvania Pride

A Christian street preacher was arrested for protesting an LGBTQ pride event — only for the charges to be dropped when the local district attorney agreed his First Amendment rights had been violated.

Damon Atkins, 41, was seen on camera holding a sign at the Pride event on June 3 in the town of Reading that read ‘Jesus said go and sin no more’ and quoted Bible verses at the protesters.

Police came by and confronted Atkins, who pointed out that he was on public property.

The officer can be seen telling him that while ‘it’s public property’ he should ‘give them their day’ and ‘respect it’ – referring to those who celebrate Pride.

Atkins is heard replying, “You know who’s cheering for us?” The people who are in hell. So you do you and I’m going to do me.’

The First Amendment states that: “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or curtailing freedom of speech or the press; or the right of the people to assemble peacefully and ask the government to redress grievances.”

This right allows an individual not to be prosecuted for comments they make using the term “hate speech” which is not recognized as a legal term in the United States.

As the video progresses, Atkins can be seen preaching a verse from Corinthians when Officer Bradley is heard saying McClure, “That’s it, you’re done” before Atkins is handcuffed.

Atkins is then taken down and propped up against a wall to be pinned down – while applause echoes from people in the background attending the Pride event.

“I can’t believe this is happening in Reading,” a person can be heard saying off camera.

Matthew Wear, who shot the video, added that it was “an incredible providence that the Lord allows me to film this.”

Reading Police Chief Richard Tornielli said Atkins was only arrested because he was “disorderly” and had nothing to do with the content of his speech.

“Our officers gave him warnings to stop that behavior because it disrupted the event that was taking place,” he said WFMZ.

Damon Atkins, 41, was seen on camera holding a sign at the Pride event on June 3 in the town of Reading that read ‘Jesus said go and sin no more’ and quoted Bible verses at the protesters

The police came over and confronted Atkins, who pointed out that he was on public property, but to no avail as they eventually arrested him.

Atkins is then taken off and propped up against a wall to be restrained while applause is heard in the background

The Pride events in the city of Reading are said to be the first public events in its history local reports.

Tornelli complained later in the week that he was getting “hundreds of calls on phone lines used for emergency and non-emergency requests for police assistance,” complaining about Atkins’ arrest.

He even suggested that the “inappropriate and foul language” and the possible threats used could lead them to press charges against anyone calling in.

However, Atkins dropped charges against him Wednesday, according to a statement from the Berks County District Attorney’s Office.

“Following an evaluation of the incident that occurred on June 3, 2023, at the 800 block of Washington Street in the City of Reading, the District Attorney has dropped the disorderly conduct charges against Damon Atkins.”

“The charges were dropped after the prosecutor reviewed the videos of the incident and applicable case law.”

Steinbaugh, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Speech, said he was “relieved but still found the whole ordeal ridiculous.”

“Damon should never have been handcuffed in the first place and the city must take steps to correct its officer’s misconduct and ensure that its officers will not violate the First Amendment in the future,” Steinbaugh added.

Charges against Atkins were dropped Wednesday, according to a statement from the Berks County District Attorney’s Office

“The charges were dropped after the prosecutor reviewed the videos of the incident and applicable case law,” a spokesman for the prosecutor said.

Atkins spoke about his arrest to CBN on Tuesday and said he was grateful for the support he received even before the charges were dropped.

“I don’t want anyone to think I hate anyone. I love my neighbor as the Lord Jesus taught me to love myself, that’s why I was there,” he said.

He did say it was “scary” to see drag queens in public, especially around children.

“I have to warn my brothers and sisters – and I’m not just talking about them – I like to talk about Jesus and I warn everyone. There are those who come to me who live in grievous sin. It’s not just homosexuals.’