Pastor Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says he was acting in fulfillment of Mark 16:18 when he meted out a beatdown of a man who repeatedly threatened to rape and murder his family and harm his congregation.
Spell, 48, was arrested and charged with second-degree battery on Tuesday after he was recorded in a nearly one-minute video reacting to a 20-year-old neighbor who swung at him first at around 11 a.m. on Hooper Road near his church, local media reported. The video shows Spell raining down multiple blows to the man’s head and face, along with at least one kick.
In an address to his congregation shortly after he was released from the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on a $25,000 bond, Spell made it clear that his actions needed no repentance as he declared victory before his approving parishioners.
“This day began with the Scripture being fulfilled in the Gospel according to St. Mark, Chapter Number 16, and verse 18. There were some things, Bro. Meritt, that followed the New Testament church. The Bible said these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name, they shall speak with new tongues. We do that. In my name, they shall lay hands on the sick. And they shall recover,” he declared to spirited shouts.
“So today, Bro. Meritt, all of you, I fulfilled the Scripture, I laid hands on the sick. I don’t know how much recovery they’re gonna have, but I laid hands on the sick. Hallelujah. Jesus. Lord, have mercy.”
Along with statements made at a press conference in front of his church on Wednesday, Spell as well as his attorney, Jeffrey Wittenbrink, explained that the man who received the beatdown is a part of a group that has been harassing Spell’s congregation for years. They allege that despite making several complaints to local police, the harassment continued unabated.
Spell said at around 9 a.m. Tuesday, he was helping to do maintenance work on his church’s fleet of buses in their parking lot when the man he is charged with assaulting began harassing him.
“While this individual is walking up and down the shoulder of the road, he’s shouting vulgarities, profanities, and very nasty words towards my person, or myself. And while I’m working on this particular bus, he said, Tony, I’m quoting him. He said, ‘Tony, I’m gonna rape your wife. I’m gonna rape all of your grandchildren.’ And he said, ‘The next time you go out of town, I’m going to kill them. And what the F are you going to do about it?’” Spell recalled.
He explained that his racially diverse church has members with roots from 27 countries, as well as recovering addicts.
“They are constantly stalked by these individuals across the street. They are constantly intimidated with threats of bodily harm. There’s not a person that’s come to this church that’s standing behind me in this meeting today who hasn’t been called the racial slur of the N word. Their children have been screamed at and shouted at with vulgarities,” Spell said. “As a shepherd, I have not allowed the sheep to attack the wolves for what was said to them. … I can’t allow a man to rape my wife. I can’t allow a man to rape my grandchildren. I will not allow a man to murder my children when I’m gone.”
Wittenbrink argued in his comments that the continued aggressions against Spell and his congregation that pushed him beyond his limit were a “failure of law enforcement.”
“I just want to say it’s sad that we’ve had a failure of law enforcement, and it may be that there’s a gap in the law. It may be it’s perfectly permissible for someone to shout vulgarities, and grab their body parts, and flash you, and make threats of rape or bodily harm, or actually even to kill somebody. Maybe that’s perfectly legal. God knows that these poor folks over here have complained many, many times,” he said.
Wittenbrink said the church’s neighbors have complained about their music, their lights and directly told members they don’t care for them and their faith. He further stated that the head of the household of the church’s neighbor “told the French media that if … he could have a Kalashnikov, he could solve the problem.”
“That’s what we’re dealing with these folks. So it’s a sad day to have to be here. I will tell you that every man has his limits, and it’s sad when you get pushed to that point. Certainly sad for a pastor or man of the cloth. And I just want to tell you, it’s certainly a failure of the laws, and our forces, to keep the peace, ’cause all these folks want to do is go to church in peace and live in peace.”
In his address to his congregation Tuesday night, Pastor Spell said he was locked in a cell from about 11 a.m. until 7 p.m., but he used the time to pray and fellowship with the other inmates who were “very kind.”
That same night, he had a vote of confidence in his leadership, and members responded with resounding approval of his beatdown of the man who threatened his family and church.
“Domestic terrorism is tolerated in our day. When you see that in order to produce, you must obtain permission from those that produce nothing. When you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors. When you see that your laws protect them against you and not you against them. When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice, then you may know that your society is doomed,” he said of his experience with local law enforcement.
“The laws have been stacked against us for some six years now, but it is a bridge too far.”
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