A Seattle pastor who was twice arrested in 2022 after activists assaulted him and then complained to police about his public Bible reading was vindicated last week in federal district court.

According to a statement from Texas-based First Liberty Institute, which represented Pastor Matthew Meinecke in his lawsuit against the city of Seattle, the pastor was arrested and censored by police because his Christian speech drew hostility from activists.

In a ruling released Sept. 10, Judge Barbara Rothstein granted “permanent injunctive relief from the unconstitutional police policy, compensatory damages for the wrongful arrests, and nominal damages for the constitutional violations, along with reasonable attorney fees and expenses,” First Liberty said in its statement.

“This result is only fitting,” said Nate Kellum, First Liberty Institute senior counsel. “The government should never silence the speech of a citizen just because an audience dislikes what it’s hearing. Pastor Meinecke is thrilled to put this case behind him and get back to sharing the Gospel on the streets of Seattle.” 

In June 2022, Meinecke went to an abortion-rights rally in downtown Seattle with plans to read Scripture, hold a sign and hand out Christian literature.

“Despite his evangelistic and peaceful intent, some individuals in the crowd, including Antifa members, did not receive the message well,” according to First Liberty. “They took Meinecke’s Bible away from him, ripped out pages from it, knocked Meinecke down, and took one of his shoes.”

Once police arrived, they ordered Meinecke to go to an area where he could not engage those at the rally with his message. When he refused, police arrested him. Two days later, a similar situation occurred at an LGBTQ PrideFest, and police arrested Meinecke a second time.

The decision by the federal district court followed the instructions of a higher court ruling last April in favor of Meinecke. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had remanded the case back to the district court with instructions to give injunctive relief to Meinecke.

The 9th Circuit had ruled that the city’s actions against Meinecke were “content-based heckler’s vetoes, where officers curbed his speech once the audience’s hostile reaction manifested.” Further, the court said, “Meineke established irreparable harm because a loss of First Amendment freedoms constitutes an irreparable injury, and the balance of equities and public interest favors Meinecke.”

Photo: James Anderson / Alamy Live News