'Pray for This Young Man': Student Abruptly Arrested While Reading from Bible on Sidewalk
A Wisconsin man was arrested over the weekend for reading his Bible on public property to protest an LGBT “drag” event aimed at children, according to a report.
A video posted on social media shows a young man and student identified as Marcus Schroeder reading scripture when he is approached by a number of police officers in the community of Watertown, Wisconsin.
As he was hand-cuffed, more officers converged on him until he faced at least a half-dozen of them.
Schroeder was told he was being arrested for amplifying his message with the use of a microphone and a speaker — in spite of the fact he was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech from a sidewalk.
🚨BREAKING: Young man arrested for sharing the Bible on a public sidewalk
Blatant violation of the 1st amendment of The Constitution. Every one of those cops should be fired and sued. pic.twitter.com/ef8zBXSf5c
— TONY™️ (@TONYxTWO) August 1, 2023
Schroeder wore a T-shirt that stated, “WARRIORS FOR CHRIST.”
The back of the shirt, which can be seen during the arrest, reads, “I WILL STAND FOR TRUTH EVEN IF I STAND ALONE.”
The video gained a lot of traction on Twitter on Monday, which led to calls for people to “pray for this young man.”
I don’t know the details of this, yet, but ask you to pray for this young man, Marcus, who was arrested. He is one of our students at @IOPT_FL. Ask the Lord to protect him, comfort his family, & cause justice to prevail. https://t.co/VyCnSeN19w
— Tom Ascol @tomascol (@tomascol) August 1, 2023
The Republic Sentinel reported the protest and scripture reading was organized by members of the Mercy Seat Christian Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
Schroeder is a member of the church and spoke to the outlet following his arrest. The young man said his detainment was for a worthy cause.
“It was worth it. It’s actually an honor to be counted worthy to stand with the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us and been arrested for the sake of spreading Christ and his kingdom,” he stated.
Added, Schroeder, “If the police wanted to try and set an example for others or anything like that, the only thing I’ve seen is actually the exact opposite, where more and more people are seeing the severity of what’s going on and being called to more action.”
He concluded his arrest would only further embolden him to spread the Gospel.
Another member of the church was also reportedly detained but was quickly released.
Schroeder was charged with unlawful use of sound amplification and resisting arrest, according to Jason Storms — who is also a member of the church and who reportedly filmed the arrest.
The Western Journal reached out to the Watertown Police Department for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
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