Seven police officers entered a Good Friday church service in Calgary, Alberta with the intent of shutting it down. Pastor Artur Pawlowski would not have it.
The officers stand masked and ready to enforce the closure of the worship service during the highest holy days on the Christian calendar.
In response to their entry, Pastor Artur Pawlowski says “Please get out, get out of this property immediately get out.”
Pawlowski, pastor at evangelical church The Cave of Adullam, says again “Get out of this property immediately. Out! I don’t want—out of this property immediately! I don’t want to hear a word. Out! Out of this property immediately until you come back with a warrant.”
One officer says “I just want to see—”
But she is shouted down by Pawlowski, who yells “Out! Out! Out of this property!”
The officer does not budge and continues trying to get her point across. Pawlowski will not hear it.
“Out! Immediately go out!” He says. “And don’t come back. I don’t want to talk to you. Not another word. Out of this property.”
“Gestapo is not allowed here!” He yells at the officers. “Immediately get out!” The officers continue to try to make their point that the service needs to be shut down to comply with provincial health orders.
The officers move for the exit, while the lead officer continues to try to be heard.
“I don’t care what you have to say,” Pawlowski says. “Out! Out! Out of this property, you Nazis!” He screams.
repeatedly tells the police to “get out of this property immediately.” He labels the officers “Nazis,” saying “Gestapo is not allowed here.”
Another church member says “If you don’t have a warrant, please leave.”
Pastor Pawlowski says “The Gestapo is not allowed here!” The officers stand around the front entry way of the church.
Finally the officers consent to leave as Pawlowski shouts “Out, Nazi,” and they depart. “Nazis are not welcome here. Out. And don’t come back without a warrant. Do not come back without a warrant, you understand that? You are not welcome here.”
“Nazis are not welcome here. Gestapo is not welcome here. Do not come back, you Nazi psychopaths.”
Pawlowski speaks into the recording as the officers leave, saying “Unbelievable sick people, intimidating people in a church during the Passover. You Gestapo Nazi communist fascists! Don’t you dare coming back here!”
He said that the officers were “coming to intimidate Christians during the holiest festival, unbelievable, what is with those sick psychopaths, it’s beyond me.”
Indoor gatherings have been prohibited in the region, prompting officers to enter the church and demand that people leave the worship service.
The Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms have been representing pastors who have been jailed for holding church services in defiance of provincial health restrictions.
