The incident happened on Saturday in Watertown, Wisconsin:
Police arrested and detained several young people in Watertown, Wisconsin, on Saturday while they were preaching the gospel at a public drag queen event targeted toward children.
Video circulated on social media showing multiple police officers arresting Marcus Schroeder as he was reading from the Bible. One officer was recorded aggressively pulling a microphone out of his hands and walking him away in handcuffs. Nick Proell, another young Christian, was detained and removed from the venue but later released with a warning.
Jason Storms, who recorded the viral video, said in remarks provided to The Sentinel that the young people, who attend Mercy Seat Christian Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, were some of more than 200 individuals from various groups assembled to protest the drag show.
“The police, per orders from city leaders, arrested several young people. Three were arrested earlier in the day while inside the park praying and talking to attendees, and then released with warnings,” said Storms, who serves as minister of evangelism at Mercy Seat Christian Church. “It was open to the public, thus the public’s right to free speech carries with them. One was arrested later in the day for preaching on the public sidewalk outside the venue and is being charged with unlawful use of sound amplification and resisting arrest.”
So, it is supposedly illegal to preach in public during a drag show event tailored to children, but it is not unlawful to hold these sexualized shows in the first place? Well, actually, it just might be. Wisconsin has a law against allowing children to view this type of material.
