Phoenix-based Pastor Michael Salman was arrested after his home was raided by more than a dozen police officers and city officials for holding private Bible studies on his own property. Salman was sentenced to 60 days in jail, three years probation and a $12,180 fine.
According to Salman’s wife, Suzanne, the city said her husband was essentially arrested because the Bible study was at a private house, and that essentially, it’s a church. Since they weren’t zoned for church, they were told they were breaking the rules. “It defies logic, honestly. I don’t understand, that something so small got so large like this,” Suzanne said. “People do it all over the United States all the time.”
Phoenix City Prosecutor Vicki Hill said in a statement, “It came down to zoning and proper permitting. Anytime you are holding a gathering of people continuously as he does, we have concerns about people being able to exit the facility properly in case there is a fire, and that’s really all this comes down to.”
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BDiddy
July 12, 2013 at 12:44 PM
The only thing I can say is that there MUST be more information to this story like they gave him several warnings or something. I don’t understand how this could end up in jail time and a $12K fine. Ridiculous!!!! Makes absolutely no sense to me with the information we are given about this case.