Cop Reportedly Arrests Street Preacher for Reading Bible, Evangelizing During LGBT Pride Event

Published

2 years ago

August 4, 2023

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August 2, 2023

A street preacher who says he was arrested June 10 and had his Bible and personal items briefly seized is warning of worsening religious freedom conditions in the United Kingdom.

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Ryan Schiavo, an American-born preacher, said he was ministering when he found himself in cops’ crosshairs.

“I went out in the streets to evangelize that’s what I spend most of my time doing here, and we chose to go to the city of Canterbury,” he told CBN’s Faithwire, noting a young friend who wanted to learn more about street preaching accompanied him. “We went on a Saturday, and, upon our arrival, we saw rainbow paraphernalia pretty much everywhere in the city center.”

Schiavo said he quickly realized there was a Pride event unfolding and carried on with his ministry. He found a spot to preach and he began speaking about Romans 1, specifically verses 18 through 32.

“[I] began to talk about how God will bring judgment and wrath on society for sin, particularly sexual sin,” he said. “And did speak about the homosexual and LGBT agenda the damage it’s doing to society, how God views this.”

Watch him tell the story:

Schiavo said “within a short period of time” a crowd came around him, with supporters and detractors taking part. At one point, the evangelist said he was having a productive talk with a member of the LGBTQ community when a handful of police officers came on the scene.

“One was quite verbally aggressive with me from the very beginning,” he said. “He was not even close to unbiased [and] began trying to incriminate me with questions [and] intimidate me.”

Schiavo continued, “And it was very clear that he was taking the side of the LGBT community, and the Pride event, and he had basically no regard for my freedom of speech.”

He said the officer asked if he planned to stop, but Schiavo responded, “I don’t know if I’ll stop, because the Word has to be preached.” Schiavo added he’s always careful where he preaches and how he does it, as he wants to protect his witness and not share in an improper way.

Unfortunately, he said the chaotic situation resulted in his arrest.

“I was not in violation of any law,” he said. “The police arrested me. … he put the handcuffs on me so hard that I had marks on my wrists into the third day afterwards.”

Schiavo said police officers in the U.K. have become “out of control when it comes to LGBT,” noting symbolism has made its way onto patrol cars and inside cop trainings. As a result, he believes he wasn’t treated in a fair-minded way, adding his Bible, speaker, and other materials were reportedly taken.

“I was in custody for about 11 hours,” he said. “I was in the cell for probably nine and a half, 10 hours.”

Schiavo continued, “They took my Bible as evidence, along with my speaker, and my microphone, and my Gospel tracts.”

The preacher said he was initially released on bail with charges pending, and was told he couldn’t attending any other Pride events in June.

But authorities reportedly later backtracked.

“I did get a phone call five days later from the police that they had dropped the charges,” he said, noting he later got back his Bible and other items.

Schiavo said the situation in the U.K. is diminishing, likening it to the “early stages of communism,” and noting the scary circumstances surrounding what he sees as dire restrictions on speech.

The American-born preacher spends his time traveling and preaching quite a bit and said he simply wants to do “what God’s called” him to do.

“It’s a unique work,” he said. “It can be a very enjoyable and very rewarding work. … My main target is younger people.”

Schiavo spoke about the cultural pressures placed on young people and the negative messages they receive through schooling and social media, lamenting the “secular, atheistic culture” that’s been percolating of late.

“If we really love the Lord, we cannot accept this and just bow down before it,” he said. “To my American brothers and sisters, this is coming to our country. … We need to have a voice and stand up.”

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up forFaithwires daily newsletterand download theCBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

Politics

Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

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2 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

US

Donald Trump praises Liberian president’s English – the country’s official language

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2 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Donald Trump praises Liberian president's English - the country's official language

Donald Trump has praised the Liberian president’s command of English – the West African country’s official language.

The US president reacted with visible surprise to Joseph Boakai’s English-speaking skills during a White House meeting with leaders from the region on Wednesday.

After the Liberian president finished his brief remarks, Mr Trump told him he speaks “such good English” and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”

Mr Trump seemed surprised when Mr Boakai laughed and responded he learned in Liberia.

The US president said: “It’s beautiful English.

“I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”

Mr Boakai did not tell Mr Trump that English is the official language of Liberia.

The country was founded in 1822 with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and freeborn black citizens from the US.

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Mr Trump promised the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau a pivot from aid to trade at the surprise meeting.

He described the countries as “all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people”.

Later asked by a reporter if he’ll visit the continent, Mr Trump said, “At some point, I would like to go to Africa.”

But he added that he’d “have to see what the schedule looks like”.

Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, promised to go to Africa in 2023, but only fulfilled the commitment by visiting Angola in December 2024, just weeks before he left office.

US

Gaza permanent ceasefire ‘questionable’, says Israeli government

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2 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Gaza permanent ceasefire 'questionable', says Israeli government

The Israeli government believes the chances of achieving a permanent ceasefire in Gaza are “questionable”.

The pessimistic assessment, in a top-level Israeli government briefing given to Sky News, comes as the Israeli Prime Minister prepares to leave Washington DC after a four-day visit which had begun with the expectation of a ceasefire announcement.

Benjamin Netanyahu will leave the US later today with the prospect of even a temporary 60-day ceasefire looking extremely unlikely this week.

Within “a week, two weeks – not a day” is how it was framed in the background briefing late on Wednesday.

Crucially, though, on the chances of the ceasefire lasting beyond 60 days, the framing from the briefing was even less optimistic: “We will begin negotiations on a permanent settlement. But we achieve it? It’s questionable, but Hamas will not be there.”

Sky News has spoken to several Israeli officials at the top level of the government. None will be drawn on any of the details of the negotiations over concerns that public disclosure could jeopardise their chances of success.

But I have been given a very clear understanding of Mr Netanyahu’s thinking.

The Israeli position is that a permanent ceasefire (beyond the initial 60 days, which itself is yet to be agreed) is only possible if Hamas lays down its arms. “If they don’t, we’ll proceed [with the war],” said a source.

The major sticking point in the talks between Hamas and Israel is the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

The latest Israeli proposal, passed to Hamas last week, included a map showing the proposed IDF presence inside Gaza during the ceasefire.

This was rejected by Hamas and by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who reportedly told the Israelis that the redeployment map “looks like a Smotrich plan”, a reference to the extreme-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

My briefing of Mr Netanyahu’s position is that he has not shifted in terms of Israel’s central stated war aims. The return of the hostages and eliminating Hamas are the key objectives.

But in a hint of how hard it will be to reconcile the differences, it was clear from my briefing that no permanent ceasefire is possible in the Israeli government’s view without the complete removal of Hamas as a political and military entity.

Hamas is not likely to negotiate its way to oblivion.

On the status of the Israeli military inside Gaza, a senior Israeli official told Sky News: “We would want IDF in every square metre of Gaza, and then hand it over to someone.”

It was clear to me that Mr Netanyahu wants his stated position to be that his government has no territorial ambition for Gaza.

One quote to come from my briefing, which I am only able to attribute to a senior Israeli official, says: “[We] don’t want to govern Gaza… don’t want to govern, but the first thing is, you have to defeat Hamas.”

Another clear indication of Mr Netanyahu’s position – a quote from the briefing, attributable only to a senior Israeli official: “You cannot have victory if you don’t clear out all the fighting forces.

“You have to go into every square inch unless you are not serious about victory. I am. We are going to defeat them. Those who do not disarm will die. Those who disarm will have a life.”

On the future of Gaza, it’s clear from my briefings that Mr Netanyahu continues to rule out the possibility of a two-state solution “for the foreseeable future”.

The Israeli government assessment is that the Palestinians are not going to have a state “as long as they cling to that idea of destroying our state”.

On the most controversial aspect of the Gaza conflict – the movement of the population – the briefing revealed that Mr Netanyahu’s view is that 60% of Palestinians would “choose to leave” but that Israel would allow them to return once Hamas had been eliminated.

“It’s not forcible eviction, it’s not permanent eviction,” a senior Israeli official said.

Critics of Israel’s war in Gaza say that any removal of Palestinians from Gaza, even if given the appearance of being “voluntary”, is in fact anything but, because the strip has been so comprehensively flattened.

Reacting to Israeli Defence Minister Katz’s recent statement revealing a plan to move Palestinians into a “humanitarian city” in southern Gaza, and not let them out of that area, the official wouldn’t be drawn, except to say: “As a permanent arrangement? Of course not.”