Three Christians in New Jersey were charged with violating the state’s anti-bias intimidation statute, specifically for “shouting homophobic rhetoric directly in front of Allure Salon,” after the trio preached to an employee who is openly homosexual.
Kombe Sefelino, Daniel Stephen Courney and Lydia Ortiz were all charged under two different sections of the state’s “bias intimidation” statue during an outreach outside of the notorious Metropolitan Medical Associates abortion facility, also known as “The Englewood Center for Women,” in Englewood, NJ.
Christians and others have been gathering outside of the facility to oppose it for years, and in January Sefelino, Courney and Ortiz had spread out on the sidewalks nearby to effectively communicate the word of God and gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible in the area and happened to be outside of the salon when John Cacella was entering.
According to the citing officer’s summons’, the Christians “target[ed] … John Cacella, who is homosexual” by preaching against homosexuality.
The charging Englewood police officer, Layne, cited in the summons’:
“Within the jurisdiction of this court, with purpose to intimidate an individual or group of individuals because of race, color, religeon (sic), gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity, specifically by, on numerous separate occasions, shouting homophobic rhetoric directly in front of Allure Salon, targeted at the employee, John Cacella, who is homosexual, in violation of N.J.S. 2C:16-1A(1), a crime of the fourth degree,” the summons’ by police officer Layne reads.
If found guilty of this fourth degree charge, it carries a sentence of up to 18 months in prison.
“Within the jurisdiction of this court of this court, with purpose to harass another, make or cause to be made a communication or communications in a manner likely to cause annoyance or alarm, specifically by, on numerous separate occasions, shouting homophobic rhetoric directly in front of Allure Salon, targeted an employee, John Cacella, who is homosexual, in violation of N.J.S. 2C:33-4A, a petty disorderly persons offense,” the summons continued.
N.J. attorney Demetrios K Stratis will be representing the Christians in the proceedings.
A hearing date has been set for March 4.
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