Indiana state trooper fired for preaching on the job
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --Indiana State Police terminated a trooper Thursday after a second complaint in 18 months that he was preaching to citizens after stopping them for traffic violations,CBS affiliate WTTV reported.
State police say this was in direct violation of an August 2014 counseling statement where Senior Trooper Brian L. Hamilton was told in writing, "During the course of his official duties, S/Trp. Hamilton will not question others regarding their religious beliefs nor provide religious pamphlets or similar advertisements."
The most recent traffic stop happened in January of this year. But Hamilton was sued in September of 2014 in a similar case, which was settled.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of a Fayette County woman, Wendy Pyle, saying her constitutional rights were violated.
The lawsuit alleged Hamilton pulled the woman over for speeding and gave her a warning. He then asked her what church she went to and if she was saved. Documents said Hamilton invited Pyle to his church and even gave directions.
The complaint said Pyle answered "yes" to both questions because she was uncomfortable and wanted to end the stop.
"When he's engaged in the official acts of his job, especially when he's a police officer, those kinds of stops are inherently coercive. That is not the time to be talking to people about their religion," Richard Waples, an Indianapolis civil rights attorney, told WTTV.
ISP spokesman Captain David Bursten said, "It needs to be clearly understood that the state police internal investigation and the public announcement of the ICLU lawsuit against Mr. Hamilton are independent and separate issues."
Bursten added, "The internal investigation was initiated, conducted, concluded and scheduled for the April 7th hearing over two weeks prior to the state police having any knowledge of the ICLU lawsuit. Today's termination of Hamilton's employment with the state police was the result of a thorough internal investigation and would have occurred regardless of any legal action initiated by the ICLU against Mr. Hamilton."