Street Preachers Arrested after Preaching the Gospel and on Homosexuality
Mr Williamson was preaching on the streets of Dundalk together with two other colleagues, when he was asked by police to stop. The reason was that he was critically preaching about gender ideology and homosexuality, the police considered the content to be a hate crime and that the preaching disrupted the public social order. Together with Robert Ervine and Sean Paul Tully, Ryan Williamson got arrested. The trial is expected on 13 October.
Ryan Williamson, 44, Robert Ervine, 34, and Sean Paul Tully, 43, were publicly preaching on 21 September, on the streets of Dundalk on the topic of homosexuality and gender ideology, when three policemen ask them to stop preaching. Exercising their right to preach and their religious freedom, they refused to stop. After trying to speak to them, police just handcuffed the three preachers and held them in custody for several hours until they were release.
This is not the first time Williamson experinced something like this, as he was already arretsed in August for preaching on homosexuality. I think -explains Williamson- what happened in Dundalk is just the same as before, people are weaponising the police against us with complaints. The Garda (national police institution of the Republic of Ireland) told us we could not preach against homosexuality but that is what the bible says and that is why we preach it”. For 13 years, he has been preaching on the streets but somehow the pressure of the police is coming more intense. In his opinion, being more regular and asking them to stop preaching on homosexuality.
Ciaran Mullholland, the defence attorney, considered that the Irish Constitution guarantee the three men freedom to carry out their actions, “in my view it just epitomises over-zealous policing”.
However, the Belfast Green councillor and member of the LGTB community, considered that the preaching was crossing the line: “Again today these extremist preachers at the front of city hall. People have a right to express their faith in the public space, but the rules must apply equally to everyone (…) At city council we are working to draft bylaws that strike the fine balance between guaranteeing rights of expression and not dominating the public space”. Her comments on Facebook gained her 200 hundred responses on Facebook, the great majority were supportive while just a minority defended the liberties of the preacher.
Peter Tatchell, a high profile English LGTB rights campaigner, although disagreeing with his views, argued: “As far as I am aware, he was not abusing, threatening, or harassing anyone. In a free society, disagreeable opinions should be challenged but not subjected to heavy-handed police action”.
Source and Photo: Newsletter.co.uk