CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) –– The son of pastor Artur Pawlowski could be facing massive fines and possible jail time after he preached Bible verses outside a drag queen story time held at a public library over the weekend, which Calgary police said violates a new city bylaw banning such protests.
On Saturday, Nathaniel Pawlowski, whose father Artur made headlines the world over in 2021 and 2022 for going against COVID health rules banning worship, was detained and ticketed by Calgary Police Service (CPS) because he was preaching too “close” to the drag event.
Pawlowski told Fox News that he was outside the event, which was held at a Calgary Public library, “just to preach, read the Bible and just speak.”
Video of the incident on Saturday was posted on his father Artur’s Rumble account and shows Pawlowski along with his friend Deklan Friesen speaking to a crowd outside the library.
He was moved away by Calgary police officers, who then issued him tickets. He was told he had violated a city bylaw.
As noted by Pawlowski, there were counter-protesters outside the library, who looked to be in support of transgender ideology, but despite them interrupting his preaching, they were not ticketed.
In June 2022, Calgary City Council, under left-leaning Mayor Jyoti Gondek, amended the city’s harassment bylaws to “specifically prohibit insulting or demeaning behavior, including unwanted sexual advances, or harassing anyone on the basis of age, race, sexual orientation, disability, gender, gender identity or gender expression, among others.”
Calgary City Council went further still and last month passed a new “Safe and Inclusive Access Bylaw” that disallows “specified protests” both inside and outside all city-owned and affiliated public buildings. Gondek put her full support behind the buffer zone bylaw.
The bylaw means pastors or concerned parents protesting pro-LGBT events at public buildings will be barred from getting within 100 meters of any such location.
Full charges yet to be known
Pawlowski noted that his ticket has no penalty listed yet, as police must “review the evidence on me and that they will be stopping by my home to issue charges.”
His ticket does have a mandatory court appearance date. Each charge under Calgary’s bylaw carries a maximum fine of up to $10,000.
Pawlowski observed as per the Fox News report, that he asked the police officers if they would also be enforcing “the same law on to the other side with the Antifa protesters.”
“He assured me (they would),” said Pawlowski, adding that he “waited” the “entire time until they left, and nobody was served a ticket except for myself and my friend for preaching, reading the Bible and holding a prayer vigil.”
According to Pawlowski, his preaching focussed on “morality, biblical standards, sexual immorality and how this radical gender ideology has gone too far.”
He also claimed that another video of the incident appears to show a police officer saying that “Yeah,” they were just issuing tickets to “just those who (Gondek) opposes.”
Calgary’s new bylaw came about after Christian pastor Derek Reimer of Mission 7 Ministries was jailed on charges relating to protesting drag queen story times at public libraries.
He spent Easter in jail and is awaiting a court hearing after being arrested a third time.
LifeSiteNews reported that Reimer in late February was forcibly removed from a Calgary public library for protesting a drag queen story time at which he preached that “homosexuality is a sin.”
Reimer’s arrest as well as Pawlowski’s ticket comes amid a surge in pro-transgender activism sweeping Canada.
A few weeks ago, Canadian dad Chris Elston was violently assaulted by radical transgender activists in Vancouver for protesting gender ideology targeting kids.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, two weeks ago the far-left New Democratic Party (NDP) of Ontario, which is the province’s official opposition, introduced a bill that would in effect ban anyone from protesting within 100 meters of drag queen story times or other “2SLGBTQI+” designated events.