As many as 20 police officers showed up at the King James Bible Baptist Church in Greenville, Mississippi threatening to issue citations to the pastor as well as church members.
It is the second day in a row that the city’s police department has been used to crack down on “drive-in” church services.
On Wednesday, nearly two dozen people attending a “drive-in” prayer service at Temple Baptist Church were slapped with $500 fines. The pastor of that church appeared on the Todd Starnes Radio Show today.
Charles Hamilton, the pastor of King James Bible Baptist Church, was preparing for a Thursday night service when he saw police officers swarm the church parking lot.
“Police officers messing with the church,” the pastor said in a Facebook Live video. “What has happened to America?”
The video shows several police officers warning the pastor that church members would be given the opportunity to leave before being cited. Another police officer told the pastor that his rights can be taken away.
“I’m a good citizen here. I’m a pastor,” he said. “We ain’t got no crack house. We ain’t got no drugs. We ain’t got nothing going on here but preaching the word of God.”
Horrifying images from the Bible Belt.
“They are here messing with the church, messing with the pastor. Who’s patrolling the streets where the real crime is,” the pastor asked.
The police were enforcing orders from city leaders who told churches to shut their doors and stop holding drive-in services.
Let’s cut to the chase. It’s time for the governor of Mississippi to send in state police to protect religious liberty in Greenville and defend the good church-going citizens from a bunch of heathen lawmakers.
