The Christian Defense Coalition had planned to hold a prayer service on the west side of the U.S. Capitol and applied for the Capitol Police Board's permission to do so. But as Rev. Pat Mahoney tells One News Now, that application was rejected.
"We were simply asking God to protect and bless America and ensure and protect our freedoms," Rev. Mahoney shares. "Speaker Pelosi still has the grounds of the United States Capitol shut down to peaceful First Amendment activities."
That means the grounds are closed off to prayer and is why the Christian Defense Coalition's similar application was also rejected on Good Friday. Meanwhile, however, lawmakers, lobbyists, visitors and others are permitted on the property. So Mahoney filed suit in federal court.
"In my court case, the government presented no evidence whatsoever -- not one piece, not one comment that peaceful First Amendment activities are a threat to national security or lead to violence," the Reformed Presbyterian minister relays.
As that litigation continues to play out, Mahoney finds it troubling that on the holiday that celebrates this country's birth as a nation, free speech and other liberties the Constitution guarantees appear to be in danger.
