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The articles I've found on google so far seem to all say that charges were dropped just against seven people, but four people were still charged.

Here is a quote from an article by Michael J. Gaynor, written January 6, 2005:

"Last October 10, eleven Christians associated with Repent America began preaching and singing at OutFest, a homosexual street event.

The Christians, led by Repent America founder Michael Marcavage, were surrounded by the Pink Angels, a group of homosexuals who held up Styrofoam signs, blocking the group.

Police arrested only the Christians.

Last month, after viewing a videotape of the incident, Municipal Court Judge William Austin Meehan dropped charges against six other defendants, including a 72-year-old grandmother.

The eleventh, a juvenile, is awaiting separate court action.

The Philadelphia city prosecutor in the case, Charles Ehrlich, called the defendants "hateful" and referred to preaching the Bible as "fighting words."

The four adult defendants face a total of 47 years in prison if convicted of the three felonies and five misdemeanors with which they were charged.

They pled not guilty.

According to Mr. Knight: “The felony charges in particular are outrageous. We’re talking about expressing an opinion in a public area. This shows why ‘hate crime’ laws are a threat to the freedoms of speech and assembly, and are a tool for crushing Christian evangelism.” (end of quoted Gaynor material).

Another Jan. 6 article, found at the Christian Post, states basically the same thing, that four people are still facing charges. Here is the link for that article:

http://www.christianpost.com/article/society/1303/section/christians.arrested.for.protesting.homosexual.street.fair.now.acquitted/1.htm

I'll keep searching to see if something else is more recent.


20 posted on 01/08/2005 6:00:55 PM PST by Cedar
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To: Cedar
This is what we have to look forward to under the hate crime legislation that is being debated and will be debated over the next ten to twenty years.

We are missionaries and were criminally charged with "Offending the Religious Feelings [of a religious cult]" by the Philippines government more than two years ago. We were mobbed and accosted and illegally detained by the cult, but we were the ones charged with offending their feelings. The Philippines is supposed to be a free country too, and has as its governmental model the US Constitution, but it is a phony democracy, just like the USA is becoming through the mis-behavior of public officials, left-wing lawyers and the courts.
27 posted on 01/08/2005 6:33:25 PM PST by Free Baptist
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To: Cedar

I went to news.google.com and searched "Michael Marcavage" and Outfest. I did not see anything indicating that the charges have been dismissed.


31 posted on 01/08/2005 6:40:58 PM PST by freespirited
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