Six people were arrested after heckling Houston megachurch pastor and televangelist Joel Osteen while he was giving his sermon Sunday morning, police said.
Police said the six protesters are associated with The Church of Wells, in Wells, Texas. They were charged with criminal trespass after being escorted out of Lakewood Church by Mr. Osteen’s armed volunteer ushers, who are also law enforcement officials, a local CBS affiliate reported.
“He jumped up with his Bible and started screaming ’Shame on you Joel, shame on you Joel,’ and Joel kind of just repeated scripture and they just escorted them out,” said Casey Eaglin, a member of Lakewood Church.
“I was terrified for a quick second there,” he added. “After the first guy, I thought, ’Oh it’s just a random heckler,’ but then you start seeing the second, the third.
“For a second there I started thinking about the church shooting that happened and I was thinking, ’Oh God, something bad is about to happen,’ but they were real quick,” Mr. Eaglin said of the ushers.
Anwar Richardson, who was visiting with his family from Austin, was also reminded of the Charleston church shootings.
“All I could think of is you don’t know what’s going on, and I just can’t wait to find out, so I’ve gotta get out of there,” he told a local ABC affiliate.
Another witness told ABC: “[Mr. Osteen] kept on going. He kept his composure. He really got the message out and he said, ’no weapon formed against me shall prosper.’”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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