Cops zap pastor protesting traffic stop at church

[Dimmauk]

Cops zap pastor protesting traffic stop at church
AP

By ARELIS HERNANDEZ, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 56 mins ago

WEBSTER, Texas – Police used a Taser on a pastor and pepper spray to disperse his congregants Wednesday after the pastor allegedly interfered with a traffic stop in the church parking lot. Congregants say they were in the Iglesia Profetica Peniel church for an early morning prayer when pastor Jose Elias Moran went to assist the stopped driver, a church member, by asking the police what had happened.

An incident report on the Webster police department's Web site said Officer Raymond Berryman tried to calm Moran and arrest him. But police say he pushed the officer, went inside the church and returned with 40 other congregants.

The congregants say Moran fled into the church when the officer grew angry and began to yell, and Moran's family disputes that the pastor touched the officer.

Moran's son Miguel said 30 witnesses saw the officer turn aggressive and repeatedly kick the church door. Several members were hit with pepper spray and children were present, Miguel Moran said.

"They treated him as if he were a drug dealer or murderer, but he is a pastor that tries to help the community," Moran said. "The police always want to be right but they are not."

Moran's wife, Maria, said she tried to help her husband after he was hit with the Taser but police threatened to arrest her.

"My husband has a heart condition and with electrocution who knows what could've happened," Maria Moran said, referring to the Taser's electrical shock.

"A pastor has to tend to his flock," she said. "That is all he was doing."

Speaking from a hospital bed Wednesday night, Moran told The Associated Press he planned to hire an attorney to file charges against the officer. He was being held at the hospital overnight for additional tests.

Police did not immediately return calls seeking comment and more details of the incident. Police Sgt. James Lovel did not specify Moran's status, except to say he was in custody and negotiations for bail were taking place Wednesday night.

Webster is a suburb southeast of Houston.


Dont you dare say it Miz!!

[Gunitsoldier]

loltexas

[Kiro]

187 187 187 187 187 187 187 187

[EternityEnd]

The pastor's church put forward 30 "witnesses" to the cop's brutallity? Shocking!

[Dimmauk]

Raymond Berryman isnt a Hispanic name, I wonder what race to cop was?

[_chuchu]

fuck I will. lolHouston

Spoiler: show

inb4 ninja

sauce of article?

[oldoldman]

inb4permit

[Dimmauk]

fuck I will. lolHouston

Spoiler: show

inb4 ninja

sauce of article?

Cops zap pastor protesting traffic stop at church - Yahoo! News

[Pikarya]

religion

lol

[quannum]

god's perfect plan, in my opinion.

[Dimmauk]

I wonder if the Texas Cops are on to something. The best way to deal with Religious crazies, is to zap the fuck out of them.

[EternityEnd]

Don't taze me, Brother Raymond!

[Woozie]

Texas, cops, tasers, and religion in one topic. All we need now is guns, Charles Darwin, and politics.

[Korietsu]

Reserving my Judgment till I see the dashcam lol.

[Zeb]

http://www.box.net/shared/static/jhz9zpmna7.jpg

[Dimmauk]

http://www.box.net/shared/static/jhz9zpmna7.jpg

LOL. That is awesome.

[Headspace]

If the pastor had a gun...

[Neosutra]

Should have shot him.

[Plow]

If the pastor had a gun...

gdi, you ruined it, it should've been "if the guy that got pulled over had a gun, this never would've happened"

Should have shot him.

man you anti-religion people are worse than hitler

[Neosutra]

Why, wouldnt the pastor go to heaven?