The following comes from a July 11 WND article by Leo Hohmann:
San Francisco police are accused of intimidating and threatening to arrest a man who was holding up a “John 3:16″ sign in front of AT&T Park prior to a Dodgers-Giants baseball game.
The man, Gino Emmerich, has hired attorneys with the Rutherford Institute to take his case. They filed suit in late June against the city, county, its police department and the four officers who allegedly tried to squelch his First Amendment rights.
Emmerich was standing on the public plaza in front of AT&T Park where a camera crew from ESPN was filming a pre-game show before the Giants-Dodgers game. The ESPN producer told him not to flash his sign in view of his cameras or he would be arrested.
Holding “John 3:16″ signs at public sporting events has been a part of American sports culture for decades.
Rollen Frederick Stewart, also known as Rock ‘n’ Rollen and Rainbow Man, is believed to have started the tradition when he became a fixture in American sporting events in the 1970s and 80s. He would appear on camera wearing a rainbow-colored afro-style wig and holding up signs reading “John 3:16.”
Emmerich has also been practicing his “sign ministry” for years, according to his website. In 2012 a man flashed one of Emmerich’s John 3:16 signs behind home plate during the deciding game-four of the Giants-Tigers World Series. It was seen by millions on national TV.
Prior to the start of the July 27, 2014, game, Emmerich arrived at Willie Mays Plaza carrying a sign broadcasting “John 3:16″, a biblical verse central to Christianity.
Other people were in the plaza, some displaying signs and otherwise communicating messages, according to the lawsuit.
Also in the plaza was a makeshift broadcast booth put together for a live broadcast and discussion of the game for ESPN SportsCenter.
As Emmerich neared the broadcast booth, he was approached by one of the show’s producers and four uniformed San Francisco police officers.
Emmerich was warned by the producer that if he showed his sign, he would be arrested based upon the fact that he was known to the producer as one who displays religious signage.
After the producer walked away, Emmerich positioned himself in view of the camera, behind the commentators, and held up his John 3:16 sign.
While Emmerich was holding up his sign, a police officer grabbed him from behind by his shirt and neck and moved him out of the view of the camera.
Once Emmerich was clear of the cameras, he was surrounded by four police officers and warned, “If you go over there and hold that sign again, we will arrest you and the sergeant will come over here and decide where we are going to take you.”
Emmerich then left the plaza to avoid being arrested.
The First Amendment suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by Rutherford Institute attorneys. They charge that officers violated Emmerich’s right to free speech and assembly when they forcefully removed him from Willie Mays Plaza, surrounded him and threatened him with arrest if he did not cease displaying his “John 3:16″ sign.
Emmerich was peacefully exercising his First Amendment rights in a place he had every lawful right to be, according to Rutherford attorneys.
He was “in no way causing a disruption in the plaza, the baseball stadium known as ‘AT&T Park,’ or any other business or agency in the area, nor was he acting in a criminal manner,” according to a statement emailed to WND by Rutherford Institute. “Moreover, other people in the plaza were displaying signs and communicating messages.”
San Fornacisco, what else would we expect. If he held up a rainbow flag or a “God is dead” sign, he would not have benn in trouble.
The City of San Francisco has become a gigantic anti-Christian hate group.
When the “tolerant” become so tolerant that they become intolerant reminds me of the quote, “their minds were so open that their brains fell out.”
Free speech, again banished by the Left. They equate religion, Christianity in particular, with hate and will do anything, yes anything, to silence it. Buck Up Church Militant, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
If you don’t like the way San Francisco treats decent people, boycott it. I will not go near S.F. because it is a fact that seismologists state the Bay Area is past due for a major earthquake. How long is God going to tolerate Sodom by the Bay before he destroys S.F., as He did the Biblical city of Sodom? If you are not killed by an earthquake, you may be killed or maimed by a person who is availing him/her-self of the benefits of the sanctuary city’s hospitality.
Yes, Kristin, our constitutional right and amendments have been violated by the evil politicians, wolves out to devour our once great nation of freedom and self-responsibility only to replace it with left-wing sponsored regulations, forcing homosexuality and Obama care upon us, and silencing those whom oppose their evil ways of thinking. Our politicians and left-wing radicals have sold their souls to the devil. How sad but true.
Would that more Catholics recognize the situation you describe…
” For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jn 3:16.
Well, well — let’s see — and this is not legal advice — Mr. Emmerich seems to have quite a lot going for him. He should be able to sue the (1) City, (2) SF Giants (and whoever owns and/or controls “Willie Mays Plaza”), (3) the individual police officers, and (4) possibly, ESPN (and the individual reporting group assembled there).
For what, you ask? Well, certainly, violation of Mr. Emmerich’s constitutional rights (and there are several that competent counsel can identify), as well as, possibly, assault, false arrest, and other things (possibly). Good luck, Mr. Emmerich.
Remember that he would have to sue in San Francisco, where the jury wouldn’t exactly be on his side. And if he appealed, it would be to the Ninth Circuit.