Louisiana Pastor Under Protection Order
Pastor Tony Spell from Louisiana is now mandated to keep a distance of 50 meters from his neighbor’s residence, except when he’s going to check the mail. This follows the issuance of a protection order just two days post his arrest, during which body camera footage surfaced showing him using a homophobic slur regarding an alleged assault victim.
The order, issued on Friday, prohibits Spell, 48, from any form of communication with his neighbors, both in person and online. The Advocate reported on the situation shortly after the order was granted.
According to the order, “Mr. Spell may walk and check mailboxes, but must remain 50 meters away from the property of the protected person except when inspecting mailboxes.”
Spell, who leads Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, is set to appear in court in September. He faces charges of second-degree assault linked to an incident that occurred just across from his church last month.
In his defense, Spell claimed that Scott Sherwin’s son raped his wife, threatened to kill her, and assaulted her physically.
Interestingly, just two days following the altercation, Sherwin reported Spell for allegedly mowing his lawn at 4 a.m., a detail WBRZ also reported.
In the body camera footage aired by the Post, Sherwin expressed that Spell was trying to intimidate his son. “Do you want to mow the grass at 4 o’clock in the morning?” he questioned the responding officer.
The situation escalated as Sherwin mentioned that his family hadn’t been able to sleep. He accused Spell of engaging in “psychological warfare.”
In the video, a visibly angry Sherwin reacted forcefully against Spell.
“I was asleep when this started at 4 in the morning,” he emphasized, while pointing aggressively at his phone.
The officer then approached Spell, who was riding a lawn mower, and asked him for his name. “Everyone in the world knows my name,” Spell confidently replied.
Spell could face up to eight years in prison if convicted and showed no remorse during the encounter. He described Sherwin’s son using a derogatory term and seemed to display pride over the incident. “He’s just hurt because I hit his son,” he remarked.
He also made a pointed statement to a group of teens nearby, suggesting that if Sherwin harassed them, he would be next.
After Spell’s release from prison, he stood by his actions, describing himself as “a husband, father, and pastor.” He declared he wouldn’t permit anyone to harm his family.
Spell recounted what allegedly pushed the situation to violence, saying the victim’s son made threatening comments towards his family.
He addressed his congregation, comparing the altercation to “domestic terrorism” while citing a Bible verse about healing and recovery.
This feud with Sherwin isn’t recent; they’ve had ongoing disputes, with Spell even filing a lawsuit connected to surveillance cameras that he believed were monitoring him during the pandemic.
Furthermore, Spell had earlier faced legal issues for violating social distancing regulations by holding in-person services during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was accused of a previous assault involving protesters outside his church, though he was never formally charged.
