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Pastor facing arrest warrant for allegedly backing his church bus toward a protester over coronavirus
Sarah Pulliam Bailey, April 21, 2020
A megachurch pastor in Louisiana who has defied stay-at-home orders intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus by holding large worship services is facing criminal charges for driving a church bus backward toward a protester outside the church, authorities said Monday.
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| Pastor Tony Spell talks to the news media as he drives a bus full of congregants from Life Tabernacle Church after Easter services on April 12. (Chris Graythen/AFP/Getty Images) |
Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran said police have a warrant for Spell’s arrest. He is wanted on a charge of aggravated assault related to the bus incident, which took place Sunday. According to Corcoran, Spell was driving a bus and backed it up on the shoulder of the road, stopping the vehicle within a few feet of a protester. A parishioner is also facing charges for swerving his car toward a protester. No one was hurt in either incident.
“He was trying to intimidate the protester,” Corcoran said. He said police reviewed video of the incident, which local television outlets aired.
Spell wrote in a text message that he would not surrender and that authorities would have to take him out of his church. A bus driver as well as a pastor, Spell said he had just finished dropping off church members before his encounter with the protester.
“I approached a man who verbally assaulted my wife and little girls. He’s a crotch-grabbing, middle-finger using against my church ladies,” Spell wrote in a text message. “What would you do to a man like that?”
Spell said that he has reported the protester to the police every day for 36 days but that police have not responded to his complaints. He said he stopped the bus “because it was a waste of time.”
“This is the proudest day of my life to be persecuted for the faith,” he wrote in a text message.
When asked whether he considered Sunday’s incident to be an act of faith, he suggested he would block a Washington Post reporter on his phone.
Corcoran said the lawyer representing Spell has been hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms, and a member of his congregation has died of complications from the virus. Spell’s legal team also includes former Alabama chief justice Roy Moore.
The vast majority of churches nationwide have stopped holding in-person services since state and federal guidelines have prevented mass gatherings. But some churches have continued to meet, with some gatherings exacerbating outbreaks in states across the country.
Spell’s Life Tabernacle Church is a Pentecostal church that teaches in signs of the Holy Spirit, such as healing and speaking in tongues. He previously told The Post that his church could not easily transition to online services.
“We’re a Pentecostal denomination, and when we gather and pray, the Holy Ghost comes in the midst. There are healings, signs, wonders, some things done together in the church that can’t be done in a live stream,” he said.
Spell has also directed his parishioners to donate their stimulus checks through his website to ministers, evangelists and missionaries.
Corcoran said the church is the only one in the area that he’s aware of that has defied the governor’s orders.
“He has said that he has healed HIV, he’s healed cancer, he’s asked people with coronavirus to come to his church where he can heal them,” Corcoran said. “He can’t do that. It’s a huge health risk.”
Corcoran said that Spell has spoken with Tony Perkins, head of the conservative Christian advocacy group Family Research Council, and agreed to abide by the governor’s rules but has not.
“He’s trying to hide behind the First Amendment,” Corcoran said. “No one has asked him not to preach the word or preach a service. We just ask that he adhere to the order that was given by the governor and the president, put it on social media or FaceTime like the other churches, but he’s refused to do that.”
Vice President Pence has explicitly asked Americans to avoid worship services, though measures to limit gatherings have set off legal battles across the country as some churches have sued over the issue. A federal court in Kansas issued a temporary restraining order Saturday against the governor’s order capping church gatherings at 10 people.
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Louisiana Megachurch Pastor Claims Parishioner Did Not Die of Coronavirus
Aila Slisco
Rev. Tony Spell has reportedly denied that an elderly member of his Louisiana church died due to coronavirus, after Spell continued to hold packed services in defiance of public health restrictions meant to halt the spread of the virus.
A local coroner said that the 78-year old church member died on Wednesday due to complications from COVID-19. On Thursday, The Advocate reported that attorney Jeff Wittenbrink, who is on the legal team representing Spell's Life Tabernacle Church, was recently diagnosed with the virus after attending services at the church.
Spell disputed the coroner's findings, responding to local news outlet WAFB by saying, "That is a lie." He also described his fallen parishioner as one of his "right hand men" and a "great member of the church." The pastor has dismissed concerns about the virus, describing the pathogen as "politically motivated."
"It's not a concern. The virus, we believe, is politically motivated. We hold our religious rights dear and we are going to assemble no matter what someone says," Spell told WAFB on March 17.
Wittenbrink is said to have been hospitalized since Tuesday, when he became seriously ill after contracting the virus. The attorney attended at least two events at the church this month, an April 2 press conference and a church service on April 5, although he says he doesn't know where he got the virus.
"I went to Albertson's twice a day. I went to Sam's. I went to Walmart. I went to Lowe's. I used the gas pumps. I mean I just wasn't careful. God knows where I got it. The bad thing is I might have spread to somebody. I feel bad about that, " Wittenbrink told The Advocate.
The April 2 press conference also featured Roy Moore, the disgraced former judge who lost two bids for the U.S. Senate after being accused of multiple instances of sexually assaulting minors. The group defended Spell's decision remain open despite a stay-at-home order and ban on large gatherings from Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.
"We've got to remember the First Amendment exists because we can worship God the way we want to." Moore said. "And no government can come in and tell you 'you can't assemble in church.'"
On Wednesday, Spell urged Americans to donate their coronavirus stimulus checks to American evangelists including himself, posting a video to YouTube asking for the money and attempting to popularize the hashtag #PastorSpellStimulusChallenge.
"I'm donating my entire stimulus, $1,200," Spell said. "My wife is donating her stimulus, $1,200. My son is donating his stimulus, $600."
Spell also recently insisted that his parishioners wouldn't mind dying as a result of attending his church, claiming that people who disagree support "tyranny."
"True Christians do not mind dying," Spell told TMZ.
Newsweek reached out to the Life Tabernacle Church for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
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Pastor Tony Spell arrested after allegedly reversing bus in direction of protester
A Louisiana pastor recently filmed reversing a bus in the direction of a demonstrator outside his megachurch was arrested Tuesday.
Pastor Tony Spell had told TMZ he had zero intention of surrendering to authorities in connection with the confrontation, though his attorney figured the jig would soon be up.
Central Police in Baton Rogue issued a warrant for Spell’s arrest Monday after video of the incident aired in local media reports.
A video clip obtained by WAFB-TV, shows Spell backing onto the shoulder of a road near his church and almost directly into a demonstrator. He does however, stop short of striking the man.
“That man has been in front of my church driveway for three weeks now. He shoots obscene finger gestures and shouts vulgarities,” he told the news station.
“I was pulling from my bus route, picking up black children who haven’t eaten because of this sinister policy that has closed schools. I was going to approach this gentleman and ask him to leave.”
The protester, identified as Trey Bennett, denied ever using profanity or making obscene gestures during his peaceful protest of the church.
Spell has earned backlash in recent weeks for continuing to host weekly gatherings at the Life Tabernacle Church. The house of worship nabbed headlines earlier this month after images of its packed Easter service surfaced online — despite Gov. John Bel Edwards stay-at-home order, which urges against large gatherings to limit the spread of coronavirus.
The Central Police Department said in Facebook post last month that Spell was handed a misdemeanor summons for six counts of violating the mandate after he “made his intentions to continue to violate the law clear.”
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