Community Corner

Hemet Church Members Sue CHP Over Bible-Reading Arrest at DMV

Pastor Brett Coronado, Mark Mackey and Edmond Flores, Jr., residents of Hemet, were outside the Department of Motor Vehicles at 1200 S. State St. just after 8 a.m. on Feb. 2.

Members of Calvary Chapel Hemet are suing the California Highway Patrol because they claim their free speech rights were violated when they were arrested while reading the Bible aloud in a DMV parking lot, according to a Murrieta law firm.

Pastor Brett Coronado, Mark Mackey and Edmond Flores, Jr., all residents of Hemet, were outside the Department of Motor Vehicles at 1200 S. State St. just after 8 a.m. on Feb. 2 when Mackey began reading scripture aloud, according to their attorneys. The DMV was scheduled to open at 9 a.m.

In a of the arrest, a security guard told the men they needed to go somewhere else. Shortly after, a CHP officer pulled up, walked over to the men, took a Bible out of Mackey's hands and put handcuffs on him.

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CHP Officer Darren Meyer told Mackey he could preach anywhere he wanted, but not at the DMV because he was preaching to "a captive audience" standing in line.

Coronado and Flores were arrested shortly after, and all three men were taken to a CHP Inspection Facility in Beaumont where they were held in handcuffs for 90 minutes, according to a complaint filed by their attorneys, Advocates for Faith & Freedom.

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Neither Coronado nor Flores read the Bible out loud anywhere on DMV premises, their attorneys claim.

According to California Penal Code 602.1 (b), the offense is listed as: "intentionally interfering with any lawful business carried on by the employees of a public agency open to the public, by obstructing or intimidating those attempting to carry on business, or those persons there to transact business with the public agency, and who refuses to leave the premises of the public agency after being requested to leave by the office manager or a supervisor of the public agency, or by a peace officer acting at the request of the office manager or a supervisor of the public agency."

The misdemeanor offense is punishable by a $400 fine or jail time. None of the men received jail time in the matter, and the law firm said the Riverside County District Attorney has not filed any criminal charges.

Advocates for Faith & Freedom filed a complaint April 25 with the United States District Court in Riverside, alleging the federal and state constitutional rights of the three men were violated when they were arrested unlawfully.

"We look at it as this is the United States of America and it was obvious that this officer acted before he thought," said Bob Tyler, one of the attorneys representing the men.

According to a news release from Advocates for Faith & Freedom, the men believed that they had a First Amendment right to free speech as they were standing in a planter within the parking lot and were located on public property.

At the time of the arrest of these men, the DMV was closed, and they were standing at least 50 feet away from the entrance, he said.
 
"Whether this was an intentional violation of our clients' constitutional liberty or whether this was an act of ignorance on the part of the CHP, this lawsuit is important in order to preserve the liberty to read the Bible aloud on public property without fear of criminal prosecution,” Tyler said.

Lt. Michael Soubirous, of the San Gorgonio Pass CHP Station, which oversees the Hemet area, said during a phone interview Tuesday the CHP had not yet been served papers in the lawsuit. The CHP has jurisdiction over state-owned property such as DMV offices, Soubirous said.

"The whole thing is, when you go to the DMV, you are not allowed to do any other business," Soubirous said. He said the men did not have a permit to speak there, which is required on state property for anything other than the intended business.

"We would have granted them a permit to go out and preach," Soubirous said. "There is a mechanism to be allowed to protest...We don't inhibit people's right to free speech--we regulate it."

Soubirous said he believes the group was aware of the permitting process, and that CHP officers had had prior contact with them.

He added that the same principles apply to a DMV office as do at the State Capitol building, which is also under the jurisdiction of CHP.

"I do know that what goes on at the State Capitol, where they have 15 protests a day, may seem foreign to groups here," Soubirous said.


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