A husband and wife arrested while preaching on a corner in downtown Kansas City will get a new trial.
Michael and Joy Wheeler spent a night in jail Nov. 7 after being arrested at the Kansas City Area Transit Authority’s Transit Plaza on the corner of 10th and Main streets.
Represented by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, the Wheelers appealed charges of disorderly conduct and trespassing.
Michael Wheeler said he was sharing his faith, with his wife quietly praying alongside, when a Metro bus supervisor approached and told the couple to leave.
The Wheelers began to pray, and police soon arrived to arrest them. Michael Wheeler was charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct and Joy Wheeler was charged with disorderly conduct.
ADF insists the charges are unwarranted.
“Religious speech is not second-class speech, and Christians should not be arrested for exercising their First Amendment rights,” said ADF Litigation Counsel David LaPlante. “Unfortunately in this case, a Christian husband and wife were arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct for sharing the gospel in a public place.”
A municipal court denied ADF’s motion to dismiss the case, but on appeal, the Wheelers were granted a new trial.
“The First Amendment protects religious speech,” LaPlante argued.
LaPlante noted Wheeler has been sharing his faith in public at that location and others across the country for the past 21 years.
“It’s hard to believe that we’ve come to a point in our country where Christians are arrested for sharing the gospel on a public street corner,” he said.
The new trial in is scheduled for Aug. 11 in Jackson County Circuit Court.
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