Christians Arrested for Preaching Gospel in Wisconsin, Video Shows

A young Christian man is seen being arrested by police as they preached at a Pride event in Watertown, Wisconsin, in a video clip that has gone viral on social media.

The video has so far been viewed more than 2 million times since being posted on the TonyTM Twitter page on Monday.

The event in question was a drag queen event at the Pride in the Park celebration that happened over the weekend, however.

In the footage, a young man can be heard reading from the bible, speaking into a microphone, before he is surrounded by multiple police officers.

One of the officers is then seen grabbing the microphone and pulling it away from the Christian while those around him question what the officer is doing.

The group of Christians claims to not have had a warning before being apprehended to which the officers say they were given a warning at a different location.

The person recording the video said the group was told that they could speak outside on the sidewalk. Another officer says they can not use the speaker and microphone to do this, however.

Three of the officers then grab the young man who was preaching and ask him not to resist as they arrest him.

"You guys are acting like thugs, straight up thugs. He has every right to be out here engaging in speech," the person recording the incident can be heard saying.

"There are cars driving around with radios playing, that is amplified sound, people are standing out here with radios, that is amplified sound.

"The ordinance has to do with a decibel gauge, you don't just get to pick and choose which amplification you like and which you don't.

"That is selective enforcement of the law, that is discrimination on the basis of speech, that is what you all just did."

The other officers are seen walking away from the area as the young man is escorted away by another group of officers.

The young preacher was identified as Marcus Schroeder, according to a report by the conservative publication Republic Sentinel.

"It was worth it. It's actually an honor to be counted worthy to stand with the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us and been arrested for the sake of spreading Christ and his kingdom," he said while speaking to the publication.

"If the police wanted to try and set an example for others or anything like that, the only thing I've seen is actually the exact opposite, where more and more people are seeing the severity of what's going on and being called to more action."

It is not clear whether Schroeder or any of the other people he was with face any charges following his arrest.

Newsweek has contacted the Watertown police department via Facebook for comment.

The annual pride event was organized by the Unity Project, an organization dedicated to promoting a "sense of acceptance and belonging among all members of [the] community" according to its website.

The event garnered national attention, not for the Christian preachers but for the Neo-Nazi groups that also descended on the event. The Christian preachers are not believed to be affiliated with the Neo-Nazis at the event in any way.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers also took to Twitter to denounce the Nazi's protests at the event.

"LGBTQ Wisconsinites deserve to be treated with dignity, decency, kindness, and respect just like every other Wisconsinite, and they deserve to be safe being who they are without fear or threat of shame, harassment, intimidation, or violence. I will continue to support and protect them."

Correction 08/03/23, 3:05 a.m. ET: This article was updated to correct the spelling of publication Republic Sentinel.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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