Pastor David Lynn confronting Muslim protestors in Toronto
A Toronto pastor, who single-handedly confronted protestors who took part in a rally in support of Sri Lankan Muslims at Yonge and Dundas Square, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with an incident in Toronto Gay Village.
Pastor David Lynn who was charged with disturbing the peace while preaching with a loudspeaker in the Toronto Gay Village on Tuesday night is out on bail. He says he is the victim of state discrimination against Christians.
The incident happened just hours after Toronto Mayor John Tory and city councillors raised the Pride flag at city hall to kick off Pride Month.
In the two-hour video, Lynn is seen saying that he doesn’t hate anyone, that some people hate Christians and that some people want him to “stay in the closet” as a Christian, says Toronto’s Global News TV.
In the video he is seen approaching various people to ask if they would tolerate him. When one man asks him to go away, Lynn calls him a bigot. When others approach to tell Lynn that he is disturbing them, he calls them “hateful.”
Police responded to a call about a disturbance in the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday evening. A video posted online shows Lynn speaking into a microphone at Church and Wellesley streets and saying that he is “coming out as a Christian.”
Lynn, 39, who was born in Toronto and of Jamaican-Irish descent, said that he was assaulted during the encounter but police at the scene refused to hear his complaint. The pastor spent the night in custody and appeared in court on Wednesday, where a judge released him on bail.
The judge asked him not to use an audio amplifier that would allow his voice to be heard in those areas. He was also asked to stay away from any location where a Pride Month event is taking place.
Lynn was arrested in east London, UK, last September after a female passer-by told police officers he made homophobic comments. Lawyer for Lynn, who leads a church in Toronto, claimed he was freed after police admitted they were wrong to arrest him.
Lynn gatecrashed the demonstration on May 20 held to support Sri Lankan Muslims in Yonge and Dundas Square carrying banners saying, “United Muslim Community of Canada, Crime Against One is A Crime Against All, Canada Should Stand for Minority Rights, Muslims are Integral Parts of Sri Lanka, Our Highest Respect for Cardinal Ranjith’s Leadership”.
The protestors were taken by surprise when the bullhorn-carrying street preacher appeared amidst them. Lynn raised questions about Muslim Christian relations, Easter bombing spree in Sri Lanka, New Zealand massacre and persecution of Christians, trying to read passages from a Quran he was carrying. Several policemen were present in the area and the encounter fizzled out without any major incident.
Lynn grew up in Toronto where he attended the People’s Church. He was said to have pioneered a high school Christian group, and was a trainer in evangelism at the People’s Church, and pastored at both a Baptist and Pentecostal Assemblies Church in Toronto before he founded Christ’s Forgiveness Ministries in his basement apartment. He studied Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto, Pastoral Studies at Tyndale University, and graduated with a Master’s of Theological Studies degree from Tyndale University’s Seminary.- newstrails.com
