Update: Christian whose Constitutional rights were violated last month files lawsuit against Reading, PA
Here’s hoping justice is served to the Pennsylvania tyrants
Damon Atkins, the Christian who was arrested last month on June 3 for attempting to quote the Bible at a sodomite event, has filed a lawsuit against Reading, Pennsylvania.
The lawsuit “seeks unspecified damages as well as court costs and fees,” according to WFMZ.
Refer to my past coverage:
https://sethhancock.substack.com/p/christian-arrested-for-quoting-bible
https://sethhancock.substack.com/p/update-charges-dropped-for-christian
https://sethhancock.substack.com/p/reading-pd-needs-accountability
And the arrest video:
As you may recall from my coverage, Atkins was arrested by a thug tyrant pig, Sgt. Bradley T. McClure (or Fascist Pig as I referred to him), within seconds after uttering four simple words in public: “God is not the….”
Atkins was attempting to quote 1 Corinthians 14:33 with “God is not the author of confusion.” Fascist Pig (McClure) called that “derogatory.” It is not derogatory, and even if it is it’s protected by the First Amendment. Didn’t stop the thug tyrant.
The case was immediately dropped by the Berks County District’s Attorney’s Office because it “did not believe we could prove a criminal case of disorderly conduct.”
Still the police department and mayor refused to accept responsibility and refused to answer for its clear violation of Atkins’ rights, both First and Fourth Amendment rights.
Eddie Moran, the sodomite promoting mayor of Reading, made a statement after the arrest justifying the violation of rights made by his police department:
“First and foremost, I consider myself lucky to have been able to participate in the Reading Pride March and Rally. It truly was a wonderful event, and I look forward to continuing to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community throughout the month of June. With regard to the incident, the City respects the First Amendment rights of all individuals. However, freedom of speech does not include the right to disrupt an organized event and interfere with the rights of others.”
I attempted to get answers to three very basic a fair questions I submitted to Moran:
Did you make your statement before or after the DA dropped charges?
Since the DA has dropped the charges, have you issued a public apology to Mr. Atkins for the unjustified arrest?
Will you be calling for an investigation into Sgt. McClure for making the unjustified arrest?
He never answered despite my multiple attempts for a response.
Richard Tornielli, the police chief, also defended the use of tyranny by his officers:
“Since the arrest of Damon Atkins, the Reading Police Department Communications Center has been inundated with phone calls from individuals voicing complaints about the arrest. On Tuesday and Wednesday, our Communications Center fielded hundreds of calls on phone lines that are used for emergency and non-emergency requests for police assistance. These harassing phone calls have distracted our communication personnel from fielding calls related to incidents taking place in the City of Reading…. Many of the phone calls received have included threats to police personnel and have contained inappropriate and vile language. The Reading Police Department and our partner law enforcement agencies are investigating the calls which have contained threatening language and will pursue charges where appropriate.”
Tornielli, as you can see, tried to paint his department as the victim after his thugs victimized a member of the public, and he had his goons investigate members of the public who dared to redress their grievances with the department.
But, the fact remains that Atkins was the victim of abuse and violation of his rights by his government, something Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach clearly saw telling The Lancaster Patriot:
“From what I have seen thus far I believe this was an unlawful arrest and could open the City of Reading and their police department to legal action.”
And now, the lawsuit has been filed. It was filed on Tuesday by Joel Ready of the Cornerstone Law Firm, according to The Lancaster Patriot. Listed on the lawsuit as defendants are the City of Reading, Moran, Tornielli, McClure and thug (police officer) Courtney Dupree.
The complaint seeks a jury trial and lists nine counts against the defendants including violation of Atkins’ First Amendment rights and Fourth Amendment rights, assault and battery, defamation, failure to train, false imprisonment, false light and two counts of malicious prosecution, one federal and one under Pennsylvania law.
The complaint alleges that Tornielli’s defense of the actions of his tyrant officers helps “to further chill the speech of Americans who, as a redress of grievances, oppose what the City of Reading did to Atkins and people like him.” It also alleges that the city’s celebration for sodomites creates a “privileged status to the LGBTQ Pride movement, which privileged status equates any dissenting viewpoint from LGBTQ identity politics…as ‘derogatory comments,’ ‘insults’ and ‘hate speech’ which must be chilled and suppressed.”
Atkins’ beliefs are described in the complaint that God has been revealed in the Bible, and “all sexual conduct outside of a monogamous marriage between one man and one woman is sin.”
Additionally:
“Atkins further believes, as a matter of his religious faith, that persons who disregard the Bible’s teaching on the foregoing matters, and who do not accept Jesus Christ as the only son of God and the only means of obtaining forgiveness from God for sinful behavior, are not reconciled with God and spiritually are not ‘born again.’”
Ready called this case a “clear cut example” of government abuse and told The Lancaster Patriot:
“What Damon wants is to make sure that he and others who go out to speak their minds and preach the gospel in Reading will not be interfered with. That’s the primary goal.”
Here’s hoping that Atkins not only wins but that justice is served against the government tyrants who not only need to lose their jobs, but they need to face criminal charges as well.