I am not sure what Tim Guthrie thinks ‘exonerated’ means, nor what Peter Lumpkins thinks ‘vindicated’ means, but the four Christians of Acts 17 Apologetics are definitely providing a very clear and frank example that Guthrie and Lumpkins could both learn from. Their video cameras and equipment, with their footage intact, were at long last returned to them by the Dearborn Police Department. It is at least embarrassing, if not almost hysterical, how completely erroneous the police, the mayor, and the Muslim and Christian critics have all been about the conduct of the Acts 17 Apologetics team. Nabeel Qureshi, David Wood, Paul Rezkalla, and Negeen Mayel were truly vindicated by the video evidence.
The official police report said that Qureshi was “screaming into the crowd” while the officers were present and, since the crowd had increased in agitation, the police officers handcuffed the four members of Acts 17 Apologetics and took them to the command post in order to “gain control of the situation and avoid a possible riotous crowd,” who were “yelling profanities” and calling security and police on the behavior of the four. The police arrived to find Qureshi “yelling” into the crowd and “inciting” them.
Here is the riot-causing troublemaker Nabeel Qureshi:
Nabeel Qureshi answering Muslims and sharing the gospel while Paul Rezkalla films the experience on video. David Wood can be seen in the background, also recording the experience on video.
As you can see in the video, the crowd “increased in numbers” from about nine people up to around fourteen. And unless my hearing is somehow impervious, there was not a single person “yelling profanities” nor was Qureshi “screaming” or “yelling” into the crowd. And contrary to the Muslim and Christian critics, Qureshi was not denigrating Islam or insulting Muslims. His message was answering questions about Christianity and the gospel to people who first asked him. (I also want you to observe how graciously and calmly Qureshi defused the initially antagonistic questions, answering them in a manner that brought no reproach to the name of Christ. I have learned so much from Qureshi about how to share the gospel with people.)
But notice something even more interesting. Both David Wood and Paul Rezkalla were not doing anything but recording the experience on video. Not only that, but no one in the crowd was addressing either Wood or Rezkalla. All the conversation was centered on Qureshi alone, while the other two simply filmed. Remember, all four members of the Acts 17 Apologetics team were arrested for disturbing the peace. In what universe does video recording disturb the peace? In other words, what cause did the police have for arresting Wood and Rezkalla?
As mystifying as that is, it defies all sense and reason that Negeen Mayel was arrested along with them. In the video above, to the right of Qureshi you can see a tent in which various booths are set up. On the other side of that tent, perhaps sixty feet away from Qureshi, Wood, and Rezkalla, is the young Mayel also video recording them. And worse still, nothing had even happened yet. As you can see in the footage, Qureshi, Wood, and Rezkalla were simply walking around at this point; i.e., the so-called large and agitated crowd had not even formed around the gentlemen yet. According to Wood, Mayel was arrested about fifteen minutes prior to the others being arrested. Again, all four were arrested for disturbing the peace. And Mayel was simply standing there, filming. She was not engaging anyone, nobody was talking to her, etc.
Negeen Mayel arrested for simply filming.
It is illegal to simply stand there and film at the Dearborn Arab International Festival? How is that liable for disturbing the peace? There was no crowd around the other three gentlemen yet, and nobody was paying any attention to Mayel. Exactly what was the “criminal complaint” lodged against them that had the police begin arresting them, starting with Mayel? It cannot be some large, agitated crowd incited by the screaming and yelling of Qureshi, because he was not addressing any crowd yet. (And even when he was speaking to them, he was neither screaming or yelling.) So in the film above we can see Qureshi, Wood, and Rezkalla walking among the booths in the tent talking amongst themselves (about fifteen minutes prior to the events in the previous video) with Mayel outside the tent recording them on video. The police approach her, inform her of a criminal complaint, illegally confiscate her video camera and handcuff her, and begin arresting the rest of the Acts 17 Apologetics team.
For what?
Wood, Mayel, and Rezkalla were simply video recording. There was no crowd around them. Qureshi was neither leafleting nor attacking anyone; after praying with a fellow Christian, a small crowd gathered around him and started asking him questions. He answered them calmly and graciously, defusing the initially antagonistic questions down to where more substantive questions were being asked and answered. And in the background the police can be seen forcibly confiscating Wood’s video camera, which he was still holding high in his hand. Then they arrested Qureshi, taking his microphone. Then they arrested Rezkalla, confiscating his video camera. And these arrests began with Mayel fifteen minutes prior, due to some obscure “criminal complaint.”
With evidence like this, the accusations against them have to strain credibility to the breaking point. I challenge anyone to review the above footage and find something for which the Acts 17 Apologetics team can be legally or ethically liable. I may be speaking for more than just myself when I say that imagined suspicions are no substitute for clear video evidence.
On a related note, state Representative Tom McMillin issued a statement today that the events in Dearborn surrounding the Acts 17 Apologetics team has indeed garnered the interest of the state Attorney General Michael Cox. McMillin said that he was contacted today by the Attorney General’s office and assured that the developments of the Arab Festival incidents are being monitored by their office, that they are “very interested in seeing how the litigation unfolds” and “they’ve been in discussions with the defendants’ attorneys and it’s definitely on their radar screen.” McMillin said that whether it is by “the skills of the Thomas More Law Center or eventually the state Attorney General Mike Cox, [the] errant public officials in Dearborn will be held accountable for the apparent illegal activity that they engaged in when suppressing the four Christians’ freedom of speech.”
