A viral video taken on Saturday at an all-ages drag event in Watertown, Wisconsin shows young Christian protesters being arrested and escorted away from the venue after publicly condemning the event. The video, which began circulating on social media on Tuesday, sparked outrage among religious communities amid accusations of First Amendment violations by police.
Watertown’s second annual “Pride in the Park” celebration, which billed itself as “family entertainment in a day of celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community” according to the city’s website, featured drag queen story time and live drag performances.
Despite Wisconsin state ordinances prohibiting exposing children to sexually explicit content, a video of the event uploaded by Ben Zeisloft of the Republic Sentinel shows a skimpily-clad performer dancing in front of a crowd while children are encouraged to hand him dollar bills.
Obtained this video of a drag queen performing sexually for children at the event in Watertown, Wisconsin.
Even though presenting children with sexually explicit content is illegal in Wisconsin, police instead chose to arrest Christians preaching the gospel. pic.twitter.com/1bR6Yc08Vw
— Ben Zeisloft (@BenZeisloft) August 1, 2023
Meanwhile, a group of roughly 200 protesters from local churches gathered on a nearby sidewalk to peacefully demonstrate against the event. Among them were Marcus Schroeder and Nick Proell, both attendees of Mercy Seat Christian Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Schroeder began reading verses from the Bible into a microphone, attracting the attention of nearby police officers. A video of the encounter taken by Mercy Seat Church’s minister of evangelism, Jason Storms, shows one officer aggressively snatching the microphone from Schroeder’s hand. Schroeder was then handcuffed and marched away by the officers, allegedly for his unlicensed use of sound amplification equipment. He has since been charged with resisting arrest.
🚨BREAKING: Young man arrested for sharing the Bible on a public sidewalk
Blatant violation of the 1st amendment of The Constitution. Every one of those cops should be fired and sued. pic.twitter.com/ef8zBXSf5c
— TONY™️ (@TONYxTWO) August 1, 2023
Similarly, Proell and several others were detained earlier in the day, but they were ultimately released with a warning. “I’d do it all over again if it gives me an opportunity to share the Good News and rescue innocent children being sexualized by their parents,” he told the Republic Sentinel. “God will use it for good. We will stand for truth even if we stand alone.”
While the treatment of the Christian demonstrators went largely unreported, the “Pride in the Park” event itself made national headlines due to another group attending the protest. A Neo-Nazi group known as “the Blood Tribe,” possibly linked to the right-wing group “Patriot Front” (which may itself be made up of undercover federal agents), showed up in force with several members allegedly carrying firearms.
Feds calling themselves the "BLOOD TRIBE" march in Wisconsin. https://t.co/N19GGqeVpF
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 29, 2023
Wisconsin Democratic Governor Tony Evers took to social media to denounce the Nazi demonstrators and defend the drag performers, making no mention of the Christian presence whatsoever.
This weekend’s Nazi presence at a Watertown LGBTQ Pride event was a disgusting and direct attack on our state’s LGBTQ community, communities of color, and Jewish Wisconsinites.
This is unacceptable and unwelcome in Wisconsin. Period. pic.twitter.com/hyBsKkBsFg
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) July 31, 2023
Details surrounding Marcus Schroeder’s arrest have not yet been made available and local officials have thus far declined to comment on the situation.
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