Police drop charges against street preacher arrested outside arena

December 18, 2024

Charges have been dropped after a California street preacher was arrested outside a public events arena while evangelizing to concert-goers.

The Christian Post reports that the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office dismissed the charges against Pastor Arturo Fernandez following his arrest in June.

The religious freedom law firm Advocates for Faith & Freedom, in a statement released last week, called the dismissal, “a victory for free speech and religious expression.”

Advocates for Faith & Freedom attorney Julianne Fleischer stated that , “Pastor Fernandez was peacefully exercising his God-given and constitutionally protected rights to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While we have the utmost respect for the men and women in law enforcement, no government entity has the right to silence lawful public preaching.”

According to the Christian Post, the incident began when two security guards at the Toyota Arena in Ontario approached Fernandez who was standing on public property about 20 feet from concert-goers who were entering the arena.

Police were called after the guards told Fernandez he was on private property and gave him a written warning. Fernandez informed the guards that he had preached outside the arena for years and asked a responding police officer to call for a supervisor.

The pastor was arrested on trespass charges after he refused to leave and asserted his First Amendment rights to preach outside the venue.

Advocates for Faith & Freedom had affirmed their respect for the police while arguing that police made an “unfortunate and serious mistake” in arresting Fernandez and violating his First Amendment rights.

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