WorldNetDaily has long been misrepresenting the facts surrounding the 2004 arrests of anti-gay protesters at a gay festival in Philadelphia as Christian persecution. That revisionist history continues in an Oct. 26 WND article by Bob Unruh:
It was in five years ago when [Michael] Marcavage and 10 others were charged for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the public streets of Philadelphia during an annual taxpayer-funded celebration of homosexuality called “Outfest.”
He describes how by preaching the Word of God, singing songs of praise and carrying banners with Bible verses, the Christians were perceived by law enforcement officers as a “threat” and were arrested.
[…]“After being jailed for 21 hours, each member of Repent America was charged under Pennsylvania’s ‘hate crimes’ law called ‘ethnic intimidation.’ They were also charged with a host of other bogus felony and misdemeanor charges, including ‘criminal conspiracy’ and ‘possession of an instrument of crime,’ and each faced a possible sentence of up to 47 years in prison along with a $90,000 fine,” he said.
Marcavage and Unruh conveniently omit unflattering facts, as we’ve detailed:
- Marcavage was also wielding a bullhorn, contrary to his suggestion that his group was merely peacefully “preaching the Word of God, singing songs of praise and carrying banners with Bible verses.”
- Marcavage’s group tried to demonstrate in front of a stage performance at the festival, thus provoking a confrontation.
- Marcavage’s group never actually faced “up to 47 years in prison”; even the lawyer for the group that ran the festival said, “They might get six to 12 months probation. … Nobody’s going to jail for 47 years.” (The charges were later dropped.)
Unruh did not tell his readers that Marcavage’s version of the story is at variance with the facts.
This also being an article about the hate-crimes bill recently passed by Congress, Unruh repeats all of his old lies about the law, led by the false claim that it protects pedophiles.