Louisana pastor Tony Spell arrested for backing church bus toward COVID-19 protester
Louisiana authorities arrested a pastor on an assault charge on April 21 after he admitted that he drove his church bus toward a man who has been protesting his decision to continue holding mass gatherings at church in defiance of public health orders during the coronavirus pandemic.
The police department in Central, a suburb of Baton Rouge, said in a posting to its Facebook page that Tony Spell, the pastor of Life Tabernacle Church, turned himself in to the department and was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and improper backing. Officials said Spell also had outstanding traffic tickets.
Spell already faces misdemeanor charges for holding in-person church services despite the ban on gatherings. Authorities have said they did not book him into jail previously because they did not want to add to the jail population at a time when the highly infectious disease is running rampant. They have not taken any action to close his church.
