Pastor arrested for allegedly threatening protester with church bus

BATON ROUGE, La. — A pastor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was arrested on an assault charge after he backed a large bus toward a man protesting in front of his church.

Trey Bennett had been demonstrating in front Life Tabernacle Church since Easter Sunday, after he noticed hundreds of parishioners still attending services in defiance of the state’s stay-at-home mandate, which bans gatherings of more than ten people.

When he was protesting Sunday, pastor Tony Spell drove a church bus in reverse in the direction of the sign-holding protester.

Spell told WAFB-TV he just wanted to get out and confront the protester, but his wife talked him out of it.

The police department in Central, a suburb of Baton Rouge, said in a Facebook post that Spell turned himself into 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 prison, where about 70 of his parishioners, dressed in their Sunday best, arrived in church buses to show support. Men in jackets and ties, women in dresses and children, some in matching outfits, gathered in a parking lot across the street. They stood close to each other, praying and singing hymns while guards, some wearing protective masks watched.

Spell eventually walked out of the jail to applause from his supporters, after his wife entered the jail with a handful of cash that had been delivered by someone in a car. Online booking records indicate bail was set at $175.

Bennett said he was used to getting scowls and verbal jabs from parishioners, but was “shocked” to see vehicles being driven toward him.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Cox Media Group