Kentucky worshippers met with nails in road as they defy coronavirus lockdown
A Kentucky church defied coronavirus-lockdown orders to hold a packed Easter Sunday service — despite a heavy police presence and even nails blocking the parking lots, according to a report.
Maryville Baptist Church appeared to have a near-full house for its Sunday service despite orders to avoid in-person services — and the heightened risk of catching COVID-19, the Louisville Courier Journal said.
Worshippers arrived even after police warned that they would record their car plates to force them into 14-day quarantines.
Many — including the defiant pastor, Rev. Jack Roberts — arrived with their plates covered, with officers instead recording their VIN numbers, the paper said.
Even more desperate measures appeared to have been taken to keep the faithful away — with “piles of nails” blocking each entrance, according to photos shared by the Courier Journal.
It was not clear who had left the nails, which were eventually cleared by church volunteers in time for the main arrivals, the paper said.
Kentucky State Police troopers then left large signs on every car left in the church lot, the paper said — accusing those present of “CREATING SCENES OF AN EMERGENCY.”
They noted that everyone in the car owner’s household would be forced to quarantine for 14-days for defying the warning — an order several worshippers told the Courier Journal that they planned to ignore.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear previously insisted that the state was not going to “padlock doors or arrest pastors” but just wanted to protect the wider community.
“To our knowledge, 99.89% of all churches and all synagogues and all mosques in Kentucky have chosen to do the right thing,” Beshear said Saturday, saying he was “just doing my best to save lives.”
Maryville appeared to be the only church to defy the ruling against in-person services, police told the Courier Journal.
The church’s pastor, Rev. Roberts, had previously said that he was “not interested in trying to defy the government” — but maintained he has a constitutional right to hold services for his faithful, the paper noted.
The orders were at the heart of a wider constitutional feud over the right to worship at a time when even Pope Francis is holding Easter Mass behind locked doors because of the serious risk of COVID-19 spreading.
A federal judge ruled on Saturday that the mayor of Louisville’s “stunning” ban on drive-in Easter church services was “unconstitutional.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cheered the decision Saturday.
“Grateful for this strong, eloquent ruling defending Kentuckians’ religious liberty,” McConnell tweeted.