Reading Police Department suffering fallout from arrest of preacher at Pride event
Jun. 13—The Reading Police Department is being inundated with harassing phone calls and emails following an incident in which an officer arrested a preacher protesting across the street from a Pride event June 3 at City Hall, Chief Richard Tornielli said.
Tornielli asked elected officials and city administrators for a show of support Monday at a City Council meeting.
"So, I'm sure you are all aware of the arrest of a protester during the Pride event here in the city," he said, "and what I really want to talk about tonight is the follow-on from that."
In a viral video shared on YouTube, Damon Atkins holds a sign that reads "Jesus said go and sin no more" while quoting Bible verses from a sidewalk across the street from activities intended to celebrate the LGBTQ community. Police warned him against disrupting the event, saying "let them have their day" and "respect it."
Atkins refused the directive and told Sgt. Bradley McClure that he was on public property before continuing to preach. McClure then handcuffed Atkins and charged him with disorderly conduct for "yelling derogatory comments to people at the event," according to a probable cause affidavit.
The complaint calls are from people who saw the video or read about the arrest and believe the officer violated Atkins' rights.
The Berks County district attorney's office dismissed the charge last week after viewing the footage. Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, criticized the arrest as a First Amendment violation and said he was relieved by the dismissal, according to the online news site The Center Square.
Since the video went viral, the city's police department has been flooded with thousands of phone calls and emails a day, Tornielli said.
"They have inundated our community communication center," he said, noting the calls have adversely impacted the department's ability to answer emergency calls.
Some of the callers threatened violence toward the chief, members of the department, city elected officials and their families, he said.
"The thing that is troubling, beyond the fact that it potentially impacted public safety is that many of these calls are harassing," Tornielli said. "The language involved in some of these phone calls that I have taken myself or listen to on voicemails is utterly disgusting."
The harassment is placing undue stress on an understaffed department of personnel already stressed by their difficult and dangerous work, he said, asking council for a public expression of support.
"I would like to think that everyone who has served or is serving or will ever serve on this body stands firmly behind our police department," council President Donna Reed said. "We know how strongly dedicated you are to the city. We understand things can happen along the way. But in this case, we want no harm whatsoever to come to our police officers, to their families, to anyone involved in city government."
