Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Christian Refugee from Iran, Arrested at Mall of America for Sharing Gospel with Muslims, Will Plead Not Guilty
On Thursday morning, Christian pastor Ramin Parsa, a former Muslim refugee from Iran who got arrested at the Mall of America for sharing his testimony with Somali Muslims in August 2018, will meet with the city attorney's office for a settlement conference. He will defend himself against charges of misdemeanor trespassing.
"Tomorrow morning on March 7th at 9:00 AM I will stand before a judge and plead NOT guilty on the charges a Muslim in Minnesota brought against me for sharing the Gospel in a private conversation," Parsa said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. "I was interrupted by that Somali woman who did not like the subject of my talk although she was not a part of the conversation."
In August 2018, Parsa was visiting the Mall of America when two Somali Muslim women came up to talk with him. They asked him if he was still a Muslim, and he said no, so they asked why. As he was speaking with them, a third Somali Muslim woman reported him to mall security. The other two women asked the third one not to interrupt.
Mall security told him to stop speaking with the women, and he did. Then, after he bought a coffee, security arrested him and held him in "mall jail" for hours, without giving him food or water or letting him use the restroom.
Mall security called the police, and the state charged Parsa with trespassing.
The pastor recalled facing persecution in Muslim countries and then finally coming to the United States, where he thought he would be free to practice his faith without fear.
The lawyer said the settlement conference will involve "further negotiations and legal proceedings regarding Pastor Parsa’s First Amendment rights and the charge." A jury trial has already been set for April 29, unless the state drops the charges.
Parsa has called on Christians to share the gospel and warn against the dangers of Islam. "As Christians, we must lay aside lukewarmness, and foolish arguments and shake the dust of religion and legalism and get on fire for Jesus and share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ with boldness," he wrote. "The apostles of Jesus said: 'Shall we obey man or God?' If we don’t wake up, our cities, states, country will be lost."
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3 comments:
The settlement should be about how much the MOA is going to pay him for violation of his First Amendment rights, illegal detention (unless those "mall cops" were duly deputized officers of the law, they have no right to keep you "until the real cops" arrive without making a "citizens arrest"), kidnapping, and a whole host of charges that a savvy lawyer should be able to generate.
Hell yes, I'd take this to trial.
I read this twice and still can't figure out why he was arrested. Someone please enlighten me?
Couple of things of note....
1) We only have Parsa's word for what happened.
2) The Mall of America has a no-soliciation policy.
3) The Mall of America can basically trespass anyone they want for any reason even a reason that is not in their policies.
4) It does take time for police to respond to a trespass situation. Minnesota law allows for people to beheld so the police can issue a bar notice.
States generally do not go forward with trespass complaints like this. That is why there is more likely more to the story.
Parsi could have refused to leave the premises when told. He could have become combative when mall security tried to walk him out. He could have been creating a scene, disrupting the activities of others.
Relying on one side of a issue is never a good thing.
That being said, the Mall of America is private property and they can have ask him to leave or they can hold him until the police arrive and take him off the property.
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