Pastor Tony Spell says he won’t surrender to cops after allegedly reversing bus in direction of protester

Pastor Tony Spell stands outside of Life Tabernacle Church before Easter church services on April 12, 2020 in Central, Louisiana.
Pastor Tony Spell stands outside of Life Tabernacle Church before Easter church services on April 12, 2020 in Central, Louisiana.(Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

A Louisiana pastor recently filmed reversing a bus in the direction of a demonstrator outside his megachurch has no intention of turning himself in.
Pastor Tony Spell is wanted by authorities for allegedly assaulting a person protesting outside the Life Tabernacle Church over the weekend. Central Police in Baton Rogue Louisiana on Monday issued a warrant for his arrest after video of the incident aired in local media reports.
Spell told TMZ he has zero intention of surrendering to authorities in connection with the confrontation. His attorney meanwhile told Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran that he expects his client will turn himself in around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
A video clip obtained by WAFB-TV, shows Spell backing into the shoulder of the road near his church and almost directly into a demonstrator. He does 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 in Facebook post last month said 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.”

2 comments:

  1. Busses have back up alarms because drivers can't see the blind spot. Hear alarm, get out of the way, kinda simple.

    ReplyDelete
  2. He's not in violation of LAW. The Law is violating his congregation and this boot head has no business out looking for confrontation.

    ReplyDelete

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