Pastor arrested during prayer protest outside Chinese embassy: 'A sad day in America'

A Christian pastor is facing a criminal charge after refusing to leave while praying on a sidewalk outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s treatment of religious minorities.

The Rev. Patrick Mahoney, leader of the Christian Defense Coalition, announced in a Sept. 28 Facebook post that he was “arrested by the United States Secret Service for peacefully praying on a public sidewalk in front of the Chinese Embassy.”

He shared video of the arrest, lamenting, “It is tragic that I am being treated like a Chinese citizen.”

“This is a sad day in America when an American citizen, a clergyman who’s praying on a public sidewalk in America, is arrested for celebrating the First Amendment,” he added.

Mahoney’s protest followed Xi’s visit to the U.S. last month. 

“We were deeply troubled that our government, that President Trump rolled out the red carpet and had a state dinner for an oppressive dictator who crushes human rights, free speech, political dissent … has overseen genocide, bulldozed churches, imprisoned academics and others,” Mahoney said.

“We were deeply troubled that our nation would honor such an oppressive leader in this way.”

During the protest, Mahoney laid out his own “red fabric,” which he described as “carpet-like,” on the sidewalk. It featured the names of people and groups persecuted by the Chinese government, including imprisoned media mogul Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong residents, Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghurs.

“We said, ‘These are the people we need to be honoring and remembering. We don’t need to be honoring someone who is an oppressor and brutalizing his people,’” Mahoney said.

“In all of our years going there, we have never seen a reaction like this from the Chinese diplomats inside,” he added. “They came out, they were visibly angry, agitated, upset.”

Mahoney alleged that Chinese officials asked the Secret Service “to remove us.”

“I saw the Secret Service go over and talk to the diplomats and the Secret Service came back to us and said: ‘The Chinese government has said this sidewalk belongs to China,’” he said.

Mahoney disputed the claim: “I said, ‘Officer, that’s not true. We have been here numerous times.’ The American Center for Law and Justice has written letters to the Secret Service sharing with them this is not Chinese property. And I thought that that would resolve the issue.”

“They went back, talked to Chinese officials,” he said. “He came back and said: ‘Reverend Mahoney, the Chinese government has said this is their property. Are you willing to leave? And if you don’t leave, you’ll be arrested.’”

“I said two things. I said: ‘No … I’m not going to leave.’ I go, ‘This is a public sidewalk. In America, every citizen has the right to peacefully air their views in the public square free from harassment, intimidation and, of course, arrest. And so no … I cannot abandon my First Amendment rights. I will not abandon my First Amendment rights.’”

Mahoney told The Christian Post he was arrested for refusing to leave and was placed in a holding cell for five hours. CP reached out to the Secret Service for comment on Mahoney's arrest. A response is pending. 

In an Oct. 4 Facebook post, Mahoney said he was charged with “unlawful entry” and must appear in court Oct. 21 to answer the charge. He called the case a “first in American History,” writing: “A citizen is charged with ‘Unlawful Entry’ for peacefully demonstrating and praying on a public sidewalk.” He called the charge “a tragic betrayal of protecting religious freedom and the 1st Amendment in the public square.”

In his interview with CP, Mahoney expanded on his concerns about the constitutional implications of his arrest.

“I wasn’t arrested by the Chinese government. I was arrested by my own government responding … to the demands of Chinese diplomats," he said. "It would have been one thing, it would have been tragic if Chinese officials came out and put me under arrest. But Chinese officials didn’t put me under arrest. The … United States Secret Service arrested me after following the demands of the Chinese government.”

“It wasn’t the Chinese government that brought me to jail and put me in a holding cell. It was the United States government. It wasn’t the Chinese government who charged me. It was the United States government that charged me,” he added.

Although the charge is a misdemeanor, not a felony, Mahoney believes “every American should be concerned.”

“The government will decide if they’re going to proceed with the criminal charges against me, which would result in a trial. So if they choose to do that, then they’ll set a trial date, and then my attorneys will begin a discovery process and putting on an affirmative defense,” he explained. “Or the government can choose to drop the charges and not proceed with a criminal trial at all.”

Mahoney initially planned to recruit lawmakers “to write a letter" to the Secret Service director, attorney general and President Donald Trump to "inquire what is happening here.”

But he's decided to “wait to see what the government does” before taking further steps, acknowledging that his strategy had to change because “Congress is out of session for the midterms.”

“If you get arrested on a public sidewalk today by the demands of the Chinese government, … what will happen tomorrow? And we can just look, say, at the United Kingdom where people are being arrested for just standing on a public sidewalk in front of an abortion clinic, not holding a sign, not speaking, just standing there, they’re being arrested," Mahoney said. 

“We need to ensure that we follow what’s etched in the National Archives. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” he concluded. “We’ll just see how this proceeds, but I have a great legal team, and we’re very excited to move forward with this and try to get to the bottom of how this even happened.”

In a Facebook post Monday, Mahoney said he “confirmed with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), it is actually a PUBLIC sidewalk.” In another post Wednesday, he said he was meeting with his legal team at the American Center for Law and Justice about the arrest.

Although Mahoney had never been arrested outside the Chinese Embassy before, he told CP he has been arrested 112 times during his decades of advocacy.