Posted on 12/22/2011 9:44:16 AM PST by marshmallow
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Rev. Patrick Mahoney to read the Christmas Story at the Capitol Tree on Thursday, December 22, at 12:00 P.M.
The Capitol Christmas Tree is located on the West Lawn of the United States Capitol Building.
Rev. Mahoney met with Capitol Police officials telling them of his plans to sing Christmas Carols, read the Christmas story, pray for peace, justice and religious freedom, hold a small 5 inch Nativity Display and pray for political leaders at the Capitol Christmas Tree.
Police officials told him some of his activities may be prohibited or constitute an illegal demonstration.
Rev. Mahoney contacted his attorney, Jim Henderson Senior Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, who in turn called the Office of General Counsel for the Capitol Police on Tuesday, December, 21.
After talking with the Assistant General Counsel for the Capitol Police, Mr. Henderson sent Rev. Mahoney this email:
"Your use of the Bible or the ornament (Nativity Scene) would convert your activity, in the view of the Capitol Police, into a prohibited demonstration. If you failed to discontinue that activity on police direction you would be risking ticketing or arrest."
Rev. Mahoney told Capitol Police officials he would still read the Christmas Story and hold the Nativity Display on Thursday even if it meant arrest or citation.
(Excerpt) Read more at christiannewswire.com ...
Reading from the Koran would be ok; I have no doubt.
I bet you can celebrate Christmas in Red Square with no hassles.
What constitutes “an illegal demonstration”?
It seems the capitol police is a far-left organization, no sarcasm.
Kill all the Christians and Jews works for him!!
He's going to do it. I hope 1000 people join him.
Good for him! Presumably Hussein's already instructed the State-controlled media to ignore the arrest story.
This is crazy! If all activity - reading the front page of "USA Today" while holding a basketball - would be prohibited, then I suppose that's a weird but consistent position. However, if "demonstration" is allowed at all, the authorities should consider the content irrelevant unless it's a direct threat to the White House or its occupants.
I wish I could join him there. May a potential arrest lead to a SCOTUS ruling that puts an end to this nonsense once and for all. ATHEISM IS NOT THE STATE RELIGION, despite the massive effort to make it so by purging all things God from the public square.
So why did he ask them about it?
Couldn’t he just do it?
I hope several thousands of faithful Christians get together in support of Rev Mahoney and sing Praise to the Lord at the Capitol Christmas tree, let Obama show to the world how Christians are also persecuted in the U.S. by atheists and Islamists, just as they are oppressed and persecuted by Muslims in Egypt, Iraq and around the Middle East and Africa.
In a banana republic, anything the government says on any given day.
Civil disobedience, perhaps?
Is it too late to arrest the Apollo 8 astronauts?
You know, people all over the country could go to their public squares and read the Christmas story from the Bible, at noon every day until Jan 8th. That would be a thing to behold.
As he had the forethought to advise the police of his plans, and they of advising him he risks arrest if he proceeds as planned, he should now advice the police that he will sue them PERSONALLY for deprivation of a constitutionally protected right. Put the monkey right back on them, so they have no excuse to not check it out before arresting him, which makes the violation willful and outside of protection of “immunity for an official act.”
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