Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Pastor charged in assault of protester
BATON ROUGE — Louisiana authorities arrested a pastor on an assault charge Tuesday after he admitted that he drove his church bus toward a man who was protesting his decision to hold mass gatherings in defiance of public health orders during the coronavirus pandemic.
Police in Central, a suburb of Baton Rouge, said on a posting on their Facebook page that Tony Spell, the pastor of Life Tabernacle Church, surrendered to the department and was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and improper backing. Officials said Spell also had outstanding traffic tickets.
Spell was taken to the East Baton Rouge Parish lockup, where about 70 of his parishioners arrived in church buses to show support. Spell eventually walked out of the jail to applause from his supporters, after his wife entered the jail with a handful of cash. Online booking records indicate bail was set at $175.
Trey Bennett, the protester Spell is accused of assaulting, has kept up a one-man demonstration in front of the church since Easter Sunday when he noticed hundreds of parishioners still attending services in defiance of the state’s stay-at-home mandate, which bans gatherings of more than 10 people.
In a television interview Monday, Spell acknowledged driving a church bus in reverse in the direction of the sign-holding protester Sunday.
Spell already faces misdemeanor charges for holding in-person church services despite the ban on gatherings.