Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters threatened people of faith concerning their ability to congregate according to their First Amendment rights. For a county prosecutor to misuse his position of authority in this way is an outrage. Prosecutor Deters crossed the line of public trust when he threatened churches and their attendees from congregating and worshiping according to their First Amendment rights. On April 4 in a radio interview on WLW 700 AM Cincinnati, Prosecutor Deters stated that if he were governor, he would tell churches that the first attendees at their church would be the National Guard, stopping them from congregating. We can only thank God that Mr. Deters is not Ohio’s Governor.

Here is the complete statement that Mr. Deters made on Saturday, April 4 as reported in the Cincinnati Enquirer,

“If I was the governor, I would tell these churches, the first attendees at your church is going to be the National Guard because we are stopping this right now, OK,” Deters said. “We’re stopping it. No one is asking you not to pray to God. No one is asking you not to pray to Allah. No one is asking you not to pray. It can be done remotely. It’s not a problem, but if it applies to these kids in Over-the-Rhine, it should apply to those churches, too, and they need to just stop it.”

For the county prosecutor of Hamilton County to suggest that the National Guard should bar churches from congregating is an egregious abuse of power. Therefore, the Ohio Christian Alliance calls on Prosecutor Deters to offer a complete and thorough apology to all houses of worship in the Cincinnati area.

OCA President Chris Long made the following statement, “Thankfully Governor DeWine, in his social distancing guidelines, has not ordered the churches, but has given strong guidance to houses of worship statewide to help lessen the coronavirus curve. Governor DeWine has complimented churches throughout the state, as they have found creative ways to congregate and to honor the social distancing guidelines for the past five weeks. Churches are conducting services online, teleconferencing, holding drive-in services, and some are meeting in small groups, but no one at the state level has called for heavy policing of churches congregating. Prosecutor Deters’ statements are out of step with the majority of Ohioans. The Ohio Christian Alliance will be waiting to hear Mr. Deters’ apology.”

Attorney General Bill Barr issued a statement this week reviewing civil liberty violations by local authorities against churches and houses of worship.

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Contact Chris Long 330-887-1922

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