A second-line organizer arrested over the weekend for allegedly refusing to disband a large funeral repast despite the state ban on public gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic has been released from custody after posting $1,000 bail.

Cecil Spencer's bail was set during a court appearance Tuesday, and he was no longer in the custody of New Orleans' jail by early Wednesday morning, records show.

In records filed in court Tuesday, the New Orleans Police Department alleged that Spencer organized a gathering that drew more than 50 people in the 3000 block of Audubon Street on Saturday afternoon as part of a repast featuring a brass band.

Videos of the revelers surfaced on social media, prompting outrage from people who were obeying government officials’ stay-at-home orders, along with at least four phone calls to police to break up the second line.

New Orleans second line organizer arrested Monday; NOPD says he refused to disband large gathering A second line organizer accused of flouting the city's coronavirus control measures over the weekend by refusing to disband a large funeral re…

When officers arrived at the gathering, the 38-year-old Spencer identified himself as one of the group’s leaders. Police said they warned Spencer that he and his companions were violating the terms of the emergency order aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19, a highly contagious respiratory disease that has claimed numerous lives in New Orleans.

Authorities said they left after the group appeared to begin dispersing, but officers returned 20 minutes later to find the group had reconvened, police wrote in the court documents.

Officers said they repeatedly ordered the group to disband, citing the ongoing public health emergency. But the group refused, police said.

Magistrate Court Commissioner Jonathan Friedman later signed off on a warrant allowing police to arrest Spencer on a count of violating orders pertaining to an emergency declaration, which is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 and a maximum of six months in parish jail.

New Orleans mayor: Stay home amid coronavirus or face arrest, penalties New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell doubled down Monday on orders for city residents to stay home amid the coronavirus pandemic and said the cit…

Police booked Spencer on Monday afternoon in that case as well as on warrants stemming from his alleged failure to pay off a pair of Jefferson Parish traffic tickets from 2009 and 2012.

Orleans Parish Magistrate Court Commissioner Albert Thibodeaux set his bail amount early Tuesday evening.

Spencer’s arrest was one of at least two that recently involved men accused of organizing gatherings that flouted the social-distancing rules mandated during the pandemic. Police in the East Baton Rouge Parish city of Central cited Pentecostal pastor Tony Spell with holding crowded church services several times in the last two weeks despite the order against large gatherings.

Note: This post was updated Wednesday, April 1, to note that Spencer had made bail.