Catholic Man Sentenced to Attend Baptist Services After Street Fracas

“Proselytizer” Escapes 90-Day Prison Sentence

Wilhelm Trübner (1851-1917), “Scuffling Boys”
Wilhelm Trübner (1851-1917), “Scuffling Boys” (photo: Public Domain)

Don't drink and proselytize! That's the lesson Judge William Mallory hoped to teach 23-year-old Jake Strotman this week, after the young man was convicted in a Hamilton County, Ohio courtroom on a charge of misdemeanor attempted assault. The judge is known for his unusual sentences, and this one is a doozy.

Reading the story, however, I'm left scratching my head—I'm not sure Who was proselytizing Whom.

Leaving a Cincinnati Cyclones hockey game, Jake Strotman and his friends—who may have had a few beers on the Cyclones' “Dollar Beer Night”—encountered a group of Baptist street preachers. Strotman is Catholic, and he was troubled because the Baptists warned him he was not “saved” and was destined for the fires of hell. Strotman, who seemed ready to engage in dialogue about the finer points of Catholic teaching, stopped to talk.... and the Cincinnati Enquirer reports what happened next:

“They were telling me I was going to hell,” Strotman said Thursday. “I was asking them: 'Why do you think you can condemn people?' I didn't understand why they thought they could judge me.”

Apparently, that was just enough for some other knucklehead to approach the church folks. This man, Strotman said, “started going off like a ball of fire.” There was screaming and words and threats before that guy broke a camera church members brought out in case of violence or altercations. The church folks threatened to make a citizen's arrest.

There was a push and a shove. And the fray was on.

Strotman ended up at the bottom of a pile and “was eating asphalt.” He pushed himself up with one hand and planted another hand square on the face near the bespectacled eye of Joshua Johnson, who had just been preaching the word of God.

Joshua's face was apparently cut by his glasses. Strotman was charged with low level assault.

So folks, there you have it. The way Enquirer columnist Chris Graves describes it, there were three characters in this sidewalk drama: 

(1) Joshua Johnson and the “church folks,” the original proselytizers. Judge Mallory thinks that “sometimes in certain places people don't want to be preached to”? Well, Judge—Tell it to the Baptists! They were proselytizing really hard, it seems to me, and they came expecting trouble. That's why they had a camera there, to record any violence which might be elicited by their fiery, in-your-face preaching and personal attacks.

(2) The other guy, the so-called “knucklehead,” who broke the Baptists' camera. He—whoever he is—should be charged with Reckless Endangerment, or Malicious Destruction of Property, or something. And he should pay for the camera.

(3) Jake Strotman, the plaintiff. And Jake should win a medal! True, Jake did break Johnson's glasses—but only because he found himself trapped beneath Johnson and a squabbling crowd, and he pushed to free himself. Secondly, Jake was prepared to talk with the Baptist street preachers because, as he explained, he was interested in what they had to say. And finally, it was Jake Strotman himself who came up with the creative sentence, rather than face a possible 90 days in jail.

So the courtroom drama has a serendipitous ending: Jake Strotman will attend Sunday services at Morning Star Baptist Church for twelve consecutive weeks. Because he is Catholic, he'll probably also attend the Saturday vigil mass at his own parish. And because he is friendly and non-confrontational, he may stop for coffee in the social hall afterward, and he may earn the respect of those fiery-tongued Baptists. Perhaps they'll listen to his perspective, as well, and hear for the first time the compelling message of the Gospel as handed down by the Apostles through their descendants.

That's what I'll be praying for.