ALLENTOWN – A non-denominational Christian pastor has sued two Reading police officers, the Reading School District and the City of Reading, after he claims his constitutional rights were violated due to his being arrested from a demonstration held just outside Reading Senior High School this past January.
Aden Rusfeldt of Pottstown filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on April 20 versus Officer Cristian Morar, City of Reading Police Officer Badge Number 160, the Reading School District and the City of Reading, all of Reading.
“Rusfeldt is the Pastor of Key of David Christian Center, a nondenominational church that expresses the religious tenets of evangelical, Protestant Christianity. During the afternoon on or about Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, Rusfeldt, his wife, and several other persons associated with them peacefully assembled for a demonstration on a public sidewalk in the City of Reading, specifically, at the northwest corner of North 13th Street and Douglass Street. At that location, they stood opposite the Reading Senior High School and at the approximate time that its students were dismissed. During the foregoing demonstration, Rusfeldt’s wife video-recorded the same,” the suit says.
“During the foregoing demonstration, Rusfeldt and his wife and other demonstrators disseminated their religious viewpoints: Rusfeldt held a sign that stated in substance, ‘Stop Sinning,’ ‘Obey Jesus,’ and ‘Hellfire / ChristianInterviews.com,’ with various references from the Bible. One of Rusfeldt’s demonstrators held a sign which read, ‘Repent or Perish.’ Using a megaphone, Rusfeldt called out to students ‘to give your life to Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead. Jesus Christ has a plan for your life.’ Rusfeldt further called out, using the megaphone, that students need God if any of them were suicidal or depressed.”
The suit adds that during the demonstration, a female student of Reading Senior High School crossed North 13th Street and threw water at Rusfeldt from a water bottle.
Some of the students in question, whom the suit says were a few feet away from Rusfeldt, also threw water at him using a water bottle and others shouted, “F— you!,” or flipped their middle finger.
During the demonstration, the plaintiff says security guards employed by the Reading School District “ordered Rusfeldt and his demonstrators to leave or else they would be arrested, intending to harass or humiliate, to violate the constitutional rights of, and to discriminate against the viewpoints of, Rusfeldt and his demonstrators” – and that when Rusfeldt “refused such a request, the same security guards, employed by the Reading School District, contacted the Police Department of the City of Reading and requested a pre-textual basis for the arrest of Rusfeldt and his demonstrators.”
“The same security officers, employed by the Reading School District, held conversations with students but did nothing to protect Rusfeldt or his demonstrators. Morar and Police Officer Badge No. 160 responded to the call from the Reading School District and arrived at the scene of the demonstration. Upon their arrival, several students disbursed or moved back from Rusfeldt and his demonstrators. Rusfeldt informed Morar, Police Officer Badge No. 160, or both or either of them, that Rusfeldt and his demonstrators were exercising their First Amendment rights to speech and to practice religion, and Rusfeldt specifically asked Morar to contact Morar’s supervisor for instruction in this context. Morar refused such requests,” the suit states.
“Morar asked Rusfeldt to relocate the demonstration to ‘three, four, five blocks’ away from the Reading Senior High School. When Rusfeldt answered that he would in ‘20, 30 minutes,’ Morar stated that he needed to do it now or else Rusfeldt would be arrested for ‘causing a disturbance, disorderly conduct.’ When Rusfeldt refused, Morar proceeded to put plaintiff in handcuffs to the screaming cheers of the onlooking students. Police Officer Badge No. 160 assisted Morar in handcuffing and taking Rusfeldt into physical custody the back of a police car. Rusfeldt’s wife asked Morar why her husband was arrested, and Morar responded, ‘He’s been arrested because you guys almost got jumped.’ After taking Rusfeldt to a police barracks for the Police Department of the City of Reading, Rusfeldt was released without any criminal charges.”
The plaintiff continues that the defendants “used disorderly conduct as a pre-textual arrest for retaliating against protected speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution” and that it is allegedly “the policy of the City of Reading, the Reading School District, or either of them, to instigate, request, or engage in pre-textual, warrantless arrests as a means of discriminating or retaliating against the viewpoints of expressed by adherents of evangelical, Protestant Christianity and the Fourth Amendment rights of such adherents.”
For counts of constitutional rights violations, civil conspiracy, failure to train and false imprisonment, the plaintiff is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, including punitive damages, and such other relief as the court deems necessary, just or appropriate.
The plaintiff is represented by Joel Aaron Ready of Cornerstone Law Firm, in Blandon.
The defendants have not yet obtained legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 5:23-cv-01523
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com