Christians Wary of Bias at Philly 5 Case
The 'Philly 5' case took on a different dimension as evidence reveals that the US Justice Department may have been instrumental in the arrest of the Christians who were witnessing at a homosexual street fair. Out of the 11 Christians who were arrested, 5 are still facing up to eight charges, including felony.
According to Worldnewsnet, an attorney within the US Justice department reported that the police were advised on how to make the arrest.
In downtown Philly, Outfest, a homosexual gathering held an outdoor event sponsored by the city of Philadelphia in October of 2004. On the first day of a weeklong street ministry tour, 11 Christians walked to the event, praising and witnessing. Their message and activities were blocked with Styrofoam boards and whistles by the Pink Angels, a homosexual group. Daniel Green, one of the Christians still facing up to 47 years in prison, stated that the police arrested the Christians after a justice department lawyer advised them to do so. Chief Tiano of Civil Affairs in Philadelphia made the arrest.
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A video was shot during this event, capturing the entire dialogue. A movie production team from RepentAmerica.com was shooting a documentary on gay marriage, and they had invited the Christians down to Philadelphia to participate in street evangelism. The video shows "truth horns" allowing the Christians to preach and sing to the large crowd, most of whom were standing on the sidelines watching the event and waiting for the outcome, and the Pink Angels, a homosexual group, crowding out the Christians. The prosecution called the truth horns, weapons and charged the Christians with possession of weapons.
According to Worldnewsnet, apparently the Outfest organizers knew about the Christians coming and they planned the protest in advance. Chuck Volz, senior adviser to Philly Pride Presents, told the publication the Pink Angels security force would carry large signs alongside the Christians to surround them and block their access to OutFest participants.
"We'll have a pink wall around them," he said. "Hopefully, they will be so frustrated they won't come again. Talking to a piece of Styrofoam is not the same as talking to a crowd of people."
After being arrested, the Christians were held for 21 hours. By the time the police had let them go, there were 8 charges stacked against them. During the preliminary hearing, Judge Meehan was immediately hostile to the Christians. "It seemed as if he already made up his mind before the hearing, and he's not supposed to do that. A judge is supposed to be unbiased," said Green.
The judge received a briefing from the prosecutor before the hearing even met, which biased his judgment, Green told the Christian Post.
Originally, the judge was supposed to be someone else, but even before that original judge could read the case and make a decision, it was taken out of that court and handed to another court. During the hearing, Prosecutor Charles Urick said, quoting scripture is "fighting words," and "hate speech."
The Christians asked the US Department of Justice to look into the case, whereupon, they found that "an attorney with the Department of Justice said homosexual lawyers with the department advised the police to place us under arrest," said Green.
The court date will be announced this Wednesday. When asked what the probable outcome might be, Green answered, "From what I see so far with the Philly justice system, we will not get justice here. They are working against us and the facts of the face mean very little. They've got an agenda and are doing what they can."
