Arizona man threatened with arrest after sharing Christian beliefs at Christmas festival: attorneys

Arizona city officials allegedly threatened a resident with arrest after he and a group of friends attempted to share their Christian beliefs during a Christmas festival, which the First Liberty Institute says infringed on the man’s right to religious expression. 

First Liberty Institute, a legal organization dedicated to defending religious freedom, sent a letter last week to the City of Tucson, accusing officials of restricting resident David Hoffman’s religious speech at the annual Winterhaven Festival of Lights. In the letter, the organization threatened legal action if it did not receive a response by Friday. 

“The City of Tucson is unlawfully suppressing Mr. Hoffman’s speech by removing his religious expression from public property and separating his speech from fellow attendees by placing a barricade between them,” Nate Kellum, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, said in a statement provided to The Christian Post.

“The city isolates religious speech for censorship. It’s unconstitutional. Like any other kind of speech, religious speech is protected under the First Amendment,” Kellum added.

The City of Tucson and the city’s attorney did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment.

On Dec. 13, Hoffman and his friends visited the Winterhaven neighborhood during the festival, which runs from Dec. 13 through Dec. 27. As the letter noted, the event is free and open to the public, and Hoffman’s group wanted to attend and share their Christian faith with attendees.

“The festival of lights is an annual holiday event occurring on the public streets, sidewalks, and rights-of-way of the historic Winterhaven neighborhood in Tucson, Arizona,” the document said about the event.

“Each year, the general public is invited to walk through the public ways that wind through the neighborhood to take in and enjoy light displays, food and drink supplied by local vendors.”

Hoffman and his friends were not selling items or asking for donations, nor did they obstruct the public walkway, according to First Liberty Institute’s letter. 

“Yet, after conducting this religious activity for a short while, City police officers approached Hoffman’s group and warned them to halt their expression, citing the festival’s solicitation policy as basis,” the document stated. “This solicitation policy, enforced by the City, prohibits all 'political, religious, or commercial materials or messaging.’”

The police officers reportedly told Hoffman’s group that their religious messaging was relegated to a small space outside of the festival footprint, a free speech zone titled “Designated Space for Peaceful Messaging and Literature Distribution.” 

Officers also threatened Hoffman with arrest and a trespass charge if he failed to comply, according to the letter. 

“Fearing arrest, Hoffman and his group forsook their speech inside the festival. But they wish to resume sharing their faith for the remainder of this year’s festival, and all future Winterhaven Festivals,” First Liberty Institute explained in its letter to city officials. “Through counsel and this letter, they hope to resolve this conflict without resorting to litigation.” 

The legal organization argued that Hoffman’s “evangelistic speech, literature distribution and oral expression” are protected under the First Amendment, and that the presence of a festival doesn’t alter the streets' status as “traditional public fora.”

Furthermore, First Liberty Institute claimed that the city’s treatment of Hoffman violated his rights under Arizona’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The act prohibits government entities from “substantially burden[ing] a person’s exercise of religion,” unless an agency demonstrates a compelling governmental interest and uses “the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.”

To resolve the situation, the legal group requested that the City of Tucson provide Hoffman with written assurance that it will no longer “banish religious speech to a speech zone within the City’s public rights-of-way” during the remainder of the Winterhaven Festival, as well as any future festivals.