Faith Under Fire: Young Christian Preacher Arrested at 'Family-Friendly Drag Event' on City Leaders Orders (Video)

Watertown, Wisconsin, August 10, 2023 — Marcus Schroeder found himself in the spotlight over the weekend as he was arrested during a protest at the annual “Pride in the Park” event in Watertown, Wisconsin. Schroeder, a young 19-year-old street preacher from the Christian ministry group Warriors for Christ, was taken into custody by local police officers for allegedly violating a noise ordinance while using amplified sound during his demonstration.

The arrest unfolded amidst a charged atmosphere as Schroeder and fellow members of Warriors for Christ engaged in a peaceful protest outside the event grounds. Armed with a microphone and a speaker, Schroeder passionately read passages from the Bible, focusing on the principle of “loving your neighbor as yourself.” However, as Schroeder’s amplified voice echoed across the area, law enforcement officers surrounded him and confiscated his equipment, leading to his arrest.

“I was reading a passage from the Bible about love, and I was arrested. No reason, not given any warning, not told anything about my amplification needing to be turned down. I was arrested and taken into custody simply for reading the Bible on the sidewalk,” Marcus said. “As we become more and more tolerant of sexual immorality in our culture, we become more intolerant of Christian morality. The more we become intolerant of Christian morality, the more we’re going to see lawlessness in our streets.”

“I completely understand the other side. I want to understand the other side. But drag queens twerking on kids… is unacceptable, and that’s something that we have to notice as a culture,” he continued. “We can have our disagreements, but there comes a time when we have to understand that we are all going to stand before God one day, and we’re going to have to give an account for what we have done with the children in our society, the innocent minds and the children who deserve to be protected.”

In a video of the incident that quickly went viral, Schroeder is seen calmly complying with officers while his group questions their actions. The police cited a local noise ordinance prohibiting the use of amplified sound in certain public spaces, and Schroeder was subsequently charged with violating this ordinance and resisting arrest.

Jason Storms, a fellow member of the Warriors for Christ, recorded the incident and later shared it on Twitter. Storms alleged that the police were acting on orders from city leaders to arrest Schroeder and three other young individuals from their group. The arrests reportedly occurred earlier in the day when these individuals were praying and talking to event attendees inside the park.

Storms argued that the arrests infringed upon their constitutional right to free speech. He contended that Schroeder was preaching on a sidewalk across from the public event, which should have been protected speech. Storms also pointed out the irony of arresting individuals for using amplified sound while vehicles driving by with radios blaring music were not being held to the same standard.

Speaking to The Sentinel, Schroeder expressed his willingness to stand for his beliefs despite the arrest. “It was worth it. It’s actually an honor to be counted worthy to stand with the cloud of witnesses who have gone before us and been arrested for the sake of spreading Christ and his kingdom,” Schroeder stated. He further emphasized that the arrests only seemed to galvanize more people to take action in support of their cause.

Days after his arrest, Schroeder delivered a speech in front of the City Council that delved into the philosophical underpinnings of his beliefs. Standing before a small gathering, Schroeder tackled sensitive topics with conviction. In particular, he posed a provocative question: “What’s wrong with Nazism?” He argued that without a belief in the sanctity of human life rooted in a Christian worldview, it becomes challenging to articulate a moral basis for condemning ideologies like Nazism.

Expanding upon his point, Schroeder contrasted the Christian perspective with a secular worldview that denies the divine and focuses on evolutionary origins. He maintained that the concept of human worth, which forms the basis of rejecting Nazism, is intricately tied to the idea of humans being made in the image of God. Schroeder contended that a rejection of Christian morality could lead to a breakdown of societal values and an increase in lawlessness.

Drawing a link between growing societal acceptance of certain behaviors and the simultaneous decline in tolerance for traditional Christian values, Schroeder passionately asserted that this shift could foster a societal environment in which ideologies like Nazism could gain a foothold. He cited the need to protect children from influences that he deemed inappropriate, pointing to instances of drag queens performing for kids as a prime example.

The Watertown Police Department has not released an official statement regarding the incident, leaving many awaiting their response to the accusations of constitutional infringement.