GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney has filed suit on behalf of a group of Christians who were denied the right to publicly express a religious message. David Ickes and seven other members of the Worldwide Street Preachers’ Fellowship were silenced by police after attempting to speak in a public park in Grand Rapids.
“It is truly disturbing when those charged with upholding the law disregard or do not understand the First Amendment rights of citizens,” said ADF-allied attorney Randall Wenger of the Lancaster, Pa., law firm Clymer & Musser, P.C. “The officers in this situation acted in violation of the Constitution when they chose to silence those who were simply exercising their free speech rights.”
Wenger is asking the court to prohibit the city from stopping his clients’ free speech activities while the case moves forward if they choose to speak at the park.
On Sept. 23, Ickes and others attempted to address attendees of the Pagan Pride Festival at Richmond Hills Park. The group spoke using a small wooden platform but did not use amplification equipment. A Grand Rapids Police sergeant informed Ickes that a permit was required for their activities and claimed they were disturbing the peace. One group member was forcefully pulled from the platform by a second sergeant, handcuffed, and detained in the back of a police vehicle.
One of the officers acknowledged to Ickes that an attempt to obtain a permit likely would have been denied by city officials to avoid “problems” caused by differing viewpoints between the group and festival attendees. Further, the officer admitted the festival did not have exclusive use of the park. Under continued threat of arrest, the group decided to leave the area.
A copy of the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan in
World Wide Street Preachers’ Fellowship v. The City of Grand Rapids is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/IckesComplaint.pdf. The motion for preliminary injunction may be viewed at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/IckesPIMotion.pdf. The memorandum in support of the motion for preliminary injunction is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/IckesPIMemo.pdf.
“Religious speech is protected under the First Amendment and cannot be silenced because of a city-imposed permit requirement,” Wenger explained.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org