A group of Christians and a driver were arrested on Monday for protesting the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics while riding in a bus and calling for an end to attacks on Christians.
"Six of our team members were forced to spend the night in jail for simply denouncing the mockery of Christians by having the message 'STOP ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANS' written on a bus," CitizenGO, a Madrid-based conservative advocacy group tweeted, adding that their bus activism "is not illegal in any way."
Six of our team members were forced to spend the night in jail for simply denouncing the mockery of Christians by having the message "STOP ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANS" written on a bus. This is not illegal in any way, as a lawyer states:
— CitizenGO (@CitizenGO) August 6, 2024
“It appears impossible to constitute the crime… pic.twitter.com/eSN542E8ig
According to The Christian Post, the bus also linked a petition in which the organization demanded an apology from the International Olympic Committee for its opening ceremony that depicted the Last Supper, except it featured drag queens, exposed male genitalia, and a lesbian DJ in place of Jesus.
"What happens if we stay silent? Our faith, our Christian symbols, will become a permanent parody promoted by queer, LGBTI, and trans lobbies, backed by our globalist leaders and the international left," reads the petition, which has close to 400,000 signatures as of Thursday morning.
"This was a deliberate and vicious parody humiliating our most cherished beliefs as Christians — they know we are an easy target," the petition continued. "And until we stop them, they will keep doing it. This is about standing up for our faith and ensuring that such blatant profanity is never repeated."
"We cannot allow them to desecrate our Lord Jesus Christ with such obscenities. If we remain silent, we are sending a message that such disrespect is acceptable."
As noted in a press release from CitizenGO founder Ignacio Arsuaga, the French law enforcement surrounded the bus at gunpoint. They arrested the six Christians and the bus driver at around 7 pm after they had been driving around Paris since 9 am.
He argued that police were sent out to stop the bus by a French prosecutor under the orders of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Arsuafe and Citizen Go plan to sue Macron, the prosecutor, and the French police.
"Woke governments are becoming increasingly totalitarian," he said.
A lawyer for the organization managed to secure the release of the campaigners after 4 a.m. the next day and contended that they did nothing illegal.
"It appears impossible to constitute the crime of failing to communicate a protest because there is no protest in the presence of one unique vehicle," the lawyer said. "The prosecutor pushed the law to its limits to stop the bus and limit their free speech. Moreover, the procedure was irregular."
Related Article: Drag Queens Portraying Jesus and Disciples at Opening Ceremony Spark Outrage
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/MarioGuti
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.