Satanist convicted of trespassing after praying at ECUA meeting

Jim Little | Pensacola News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption David Suhor arrested at ECUA meeting A video shot by an ECUA employee shows David Suhor being arrested before an ECUA meeting on February 22, 2018.

This story has been updated to correct a mistake that said David Suhor was arrested during the meeting. He was arrested before the meeting began as the ECUA board was attempting to hold a prayer before officially calling the meeting to order.

David Suhor, a local religious freedom activist and Satanist, was convicted Monday of trespassing and resisting arrest at an Emerald Coast Utilities Authority meeting in February.

Suhor, a member of the West Florida Chapter of The Satanic Temple, drew national attention when he delivered a Satanic prayer before the Pensacola City Council in 2016 and has challenged local government's policies on holding prayers before meetings.

Suhor was arrested before a February ECUA meeting was called to order and charged with trespassing and resisting arrest without violence.

In August 2017, Suhor was forcibly removed from an ECUA meeting for praying loudly before the meeting started, but he was not arrested during that incident.

"They're actually trying to hide their invocations so that they can't be sued for their content," Suhor told the News Journal on Wednesday. "Pretty bad transparency. It's the exact opposite of transparency."

Unlike other local government boards, ECUA board members themselves deliver a prayer from the dais, but they do so before the meeting is officially called to order.

ECUA Chairwoman Lois Benson told the News Journal on Wednesday the policy was changed to have the prayer before the meetings after Suhor raised concerns about it.

"That way anyone who does not want to hear a Christian prayer or any other prayer offered by the board does not miss any of our meeting," Benson said. "I started that simply out of sensitivity to him."

Suhor said he went to the February meeting and before the meeting began, he prayed the Lord's Prayer with each of the board members and some board members even joined him in the prayer.

However, when Benson attempted to begin the prayer that preceded the meeting, he refused to sit down and kept praying.

"Our tradition is always to have a brief invocation, a non-proselytizing invocation done by a member of our board, and we have never invited outsiders to do that," Benson said. "It is just a moment of reflection before we begin doing the business of the people and the utility."

Benson said the ECUA board invites public comments during its meeting and is always open to hearing all views from citizens.

"I take very seriously evicting any citizen from our meetings," Benson said.

ECUA video recording of meetings doesn't begin until the meeting is officially called to order, so none of Suhor's protest was caught on ECUA's official recording. But Suhor posted two videos of the incident on his YouTube page.

In the video, Benson can be seen saying "I need to gather the people" and bangs the gavel as Suhor continues to pray.

Suhor says the meeting hasn't been called to order, and ECUA attorney Bradly Odom asks Suhor to back away, saying the board is trying to conduct business.

Suhor asks Benson if he can stand silently, and she says he can. He then continues to pray and Benson says "I would ask that he be removed."

An Escambia County Sheriff's Offices deputy approaches Suhor and asks him to come with him, tugging on his arm. At that point, Suhor appears to fall to the ground, forcing the deputy and an ECUA security guard to drag Suhor out of the room.

As Suhor is dragged out, Benson can be heard telling board members that if someone was causing a disturbance in the customer service area, they would also be removed, so it didn't matter if the meeting had been called to order.

Suhor said the arrest was a violation of his free speech.

"If you're not silent during our prayer before the meeting is called to order, before any of it's official or recorded or anything, we can have you arrested," Suhor said. "To me, that's a blatant violation of my free speech."

Judge Joyce Williams found Suhor guilty on the two counts after a bench trial Monday and sentenced him to three months of probation, prohibited him from using alcohol or drugs during probation and ordered him to stay away from ECUA headquarters, as well as to perform 25 hours of community service and to pay $273 in court costs and a $100 fine.

"ECUA welcomes every citizen to attend our meetings, speak if they so desire, and be part of the local governmental process," ECUA spokeswoman Nathalie Bowers said to the News Journal in a written statement. "However, we will not allow disruption of our meetings."

Suhor started a GoFundMe for his legal defense and says he plans to appeal the case and sue ECUA over its invocation policy.

"My contention is if they can pray before the meeting, then so can I," Suhor said.

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com or 850-208-9827.