Church In Hemet Sues CHP Over DMV Bible Reading
HEMET (AP) — A Riverside County church is suing the California Highway Patrol, saying its members were wrongly arrested for reading Bible verses to people waiting in line outside a local Department of Motor Vehicles office.
Attorneys for Hemet Calvary Chapel say the church's First Amendments rights were violated by the arrests on Feb. 2 that were captured on video and posted on YouTube.
CHP Lt. Mike Soubirous tells the Riverside Press-Enterprise on Friday that church members had been told they were not allowed to preach on DMV property without a permit, but members denied this.
The suit seeks an injunction and unspecified damages from the CHP and Officer Darren Meyer, who arrested an assistant pastor and two church elders when they refused to leave after they were asked by a security guard.
You can read a copy of the complaint here, and check out edited video footage of the incident posted on YouTube.
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