Christians Arrested for ‘Hate Crime’ to Be Arraigned on Monday     10/15/2004
By Robert Knight

‘Philadelphia 11’ charged with 3 felonies, 5 misdemeanors.

A group of Christians who were arrested on October 10 at a Philadelphia homosexual celebration will be arraigned at 9 a.m. on Monday in the Criminal Justice Center on charges that could bring 47-year prison sentences.

None of the charges has been dropped or reduced since the arrests of 11 people ranging in age from 17 to 72 were made around 1 p.m. during the Coming Out Day “Outfest,” a spokeswoman from the District Attorney’s office told Concerned Women for America’s Culture & Family Institute.

Michael Marcavage, founder of Repent America and the leader of the group, said that mainstream media, including Philadelphia’s major newspapers, have ignored the arrests.

“We let the Associated Press know, but they didn’t have any interest in it,” Marcavage said. “I mean, if they want to have a ‘hate crime’ law, well, here it is.”

Marcavage has done several Christian radio interviews, but none with secular-oriented stations.

Police made the arrests after some homosexual activists calling themselves the “Pink Angels” confronted the Christian group near an entrance to the event. A videotape of the arrests shows “that it’s clearly the 'Pink Angels' who are disrupting things, not us,” Marcavage said. None of the “Pink Angels” was arrested.

The counts against the Christian group include:

1) “ethnic intimidation” (2nd-degree felony “hate crime”).

2) “criminal conspiracy” (1st-degree felony).

3) “possession of instruments of crime” (1st-degree misdemeanor).

4) “reckless endangerment of another person” (2nd-degree felony).

5) “riot” (3rd-degree felony).

6) “failure to disperse” (2nd-degree misdemeanor).

7) “disorderly conduct” (2nd-degree misdemeanor).

8) “obstructing a highway” (3rd-degree misdemeanor).

The “ethnic intimidation” charge was made under Pennsylvania’s Ethnic Intimidation and Institutional Vandalism Act, the state’s “hate crimes” law, to which “sexual orientation” was recently added as a victim category.

Law Center had filed suit against city

Two days before the arrests, the American Family Association Center for Law and Policy (AFACLP) filed a lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia alleging that Marcavage and his group have been denied their constitutionally protected rights of free speech and free exercise of religion, stemming from other incidents. "The City of Philadelphia constantly threatened, intimidated, and, as evidenced by Sunday’s actions, arrested him merely for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the public byways,” an AFACLP press release said.

“It’s time that the City of Brotherly Love learned that the Liberty Bell rings for Christians, too,” said Joseph Murray, an AFACLP staff attorney.

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