Jesse Boyd & The Holly Ridge Incident

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Originally Posted May 11, 2023

by Robert Baty

Following are alleged texts sent out by Jesse Boyd regarding an incident in Holly Ridge, NC in 2012. They are being presented, in part, to illustrate Jesse’s tendency to “fight, fight, fight” against the civil authorities, on the simplest of matters. If he had not chosen the life of a world adventurer, he might well have teamed up with James Alan Springer (aka James Freeman) and become a popular “1st Amendment Auditor” and public nuisance. Well, he at least has achieved the public nuisance title.

These texts also help to illustrate that Jesse’s historic tactics in such cases has not changed. Some will recognize how they have manifested themselves in the evolving Montana story.

Message #1 – Arrested in North Carolina

July 5, 2012

My dear friends, I DESPERATELY need your help. Ricky and I safely returned to the United States nearly two weeks ago, bringing to a conclusion our 13-month journey that literally took us around the globe and resulted in the distribution of more than 150,000 pieces of Gospel materials in 18 countries. The Lord is good.

Unfortunately, though having proclaimed Jesus Christ in Communist, Muslim, and various other countries this past year without rights guaranteeing freedom, or in the face of laws specifically banning the preaching of the Gospel, I wasn’t made to face arrest until returning to the United States.

This past week, my family and I, along with Ricky Springer (my faithful traveling and preaching partner), have been down in Surf City, North Carolina, enjoying a little down time on the beach in a house that someone rented for us. Earlier in the week, we met a local brother who was excited about the work we had been doing and wanted to join us for some evangelism on the local streets. So, on July 4th, after I preached on the sidewalk in downtown Surf City for more than an hour, this young man called and invited us up to the small town of Holly Ridge (about 7 miles north) where there was a scheduled fireworks display in a public park. We were weary and thought to decline the invitation, but ultimately decided otherwise so as to be an encouragement to this young man who obviously had a heart for evangelism. So, Ricky and I met up with this brother in the Holly Springs Municipal Park and began to distribute Gospel tracts to the hundreds of people who were gathered and waiting for the fireworks display.

In the park, there were lots of people milling around, loud music, and some drinking. Nevertheless, Ricky walked around preaching with a small speaker attached to his belt for nearly half an hour. Later, as I distributed tracts to passersby at a busy junction in the park, Ricky came and stood under a tree and continued preaching, our intention being to preach until the fireworks started and then to resume when the show was over. Police were everywhere and allowed this to go on for quite some time without a problem. However, when a local who had been drinking approached Ricky and started harassing him, things changed.

I intervened where the local was concerned and told the man to leave us alone despite violent threats issuing from his mouth. He tried to get me to “step outside” and fight him, but I replied: “Sorry sir, I didn’t come here to fight people; I came here to love people.” As soon as I said these words, SERGEANT KEITH WHALEY of the Holly Ridge Police Department made a beeline for Ricky and told him that he would be arrested if he didn’t shut the microphone off and stop preaching. This officer was extremely rude, abrasive, and hostile; and he kept cutting Ricky off as he tried to get an understanding of how the law was being broken. I walked up to see what was going on, and immediately the above mentioned officer accused me of getting in his face and threatened: “I am backing up; if you take another step toward me, you will go to jail.” I asked him what law we were breaking, and he just replied that we would be arrested if we continued. Sgt. Whaley then stormed off. At that moment, someone began to sing the national anthem followed by the fireworks. So, we turned off the speaker out of respect and ceased preaching.

While the preaching was “on hold,” I called 911 and requested that a supervising officer be sent to Holly Ridge Park because I feared our constitutional rights were being violated. Moreover, it had become obvious that Sgt. Whaley was unapproachable for discussion. The dispatcher promised to send someone over soon.

About 10 minutes later, Sgt. Whaley returned with another officer and walked right up to Ricky as he was simply conversing with a few local believers. He told him: “If you turn that speaker back on, you are in violation of a noise ordinance and will be arrested. You better not turn it back on.” I then re-entered the conversation and told Sgt. Whaley that we would no longer speak with him and had requested a superior officer. Immediately, the other officer replied: “I’m the Chief of Police, I’m the Chief of Police.” I said, “Ok sir, I will speak with you.” I then tried to ascertain the nature of the noise ordinance and how they could measure if we were in violation of said ordinance (Keep in mind that the speaker was small and only allowed us to be heard about 25 feet away over all the music and noise). I was told that there was no decibel level and that the officers would simply determine us to be in violation. I reminded them that blanket prohibitions on amplified speech are unconstitutional (U.S. Supreme Court, Saia v. New York, 1948) and then asked if Holly Springs had a blanket prohibition on the use of speakers. They said “No.” I replied, “What law then are we breaking?” The response: “You will be arrested if you turn that speaker on. It will be a problem for you.” Confused, I continued to press for an explanation of how the law was being transgressed, but these officers scoffed and then rudely walked off, again threatening arrest.

In that moment, the speaker was attached to Ricky’s belt and was powered off. Moreover, we were not distributing Gospel tracts or doing any preaching. I called to the officers as they were walking away and again asked (i.e. in a way that that those gathered around could hear): “How are we breaking the law?” They just smirked and ignored me. I then openly rebuked them in this manner:

“You all cannot just threaten us like that and then walk away without explaining the law to us. I didn’t just come out of the Third World, having battled all sorts smoke, fire, and a beating for the Gospel, just to be treated like this in a country that is supposed to have freedom of speech. This is the USA, not the USSR. I respect the office of a policeman, but what you all are doing is wrong. Shame on you, you need to repent.”

As soon as I said “repent,” the two officers (Sgt. Keith Whaley and Chief of Police John Herring) made a beeline back to me and put me in handcuffs. They then led me to a police car without ever formally telling me that I was under arrest. I was never told what I was being charged with; and they certainly never read me any Miranda Rights. Instead of being transported to the local city jail, Sgt. Whaley drove me more than 20 miles to the county jail in Jacksonville, NC. At the county magistrate, I was left in handcuffs and put in a holding cell for more than an hour. Outside, Sgt. Whaley and the magistrate discussed how they could write up a legitimate charge. I was then transported over to the Onslow County Jail and detained until my wife could travel up to Jacksonville from Surf City and post a $500.00 bond.

Upon receiving a copy of the charge of disorderly conduct levied against me, I was shocked and astounded at the lies contained therein. It reads:

“ . . . the defendant named above unlawfully and willfully did intentionally cause a public disturbance at the Holly Ridge Park, by making utterances and using abusive language, intended and plainly likely to provoke immediate violent retaliation and thereby causing a breach of the peace. The acts of the defendant were directed toward Sergeant K Whaley and other Holly Ridge Police Department Officers and consisted of when told to stop talking with bullhorns during the Independence Day Firework Display at the park, defendant refused to stop and called officers Communists and other names and kept talking increasingly loud.”

Any police officer that could conjure up such a bogus charge tainted with outright lies should be immediately suspended and has no business serving on a police force in a democratic country that boasts freedom of speech. Never did I even use the speaker in that park, and it was powered off and on Ricky’s belt when I was arrested. Moreover, I wasn’t aware that the words “repent” and “shame” are considered abusive language that incite violence. I never called any of the aforementioned officers any names, and even if I had called them “Communists,” so what? The only “threats” that ever came from my mouth were warnings that we would use the court system if they didn’t leave us alone. This bogus charge is nothing more than a thug policeman venting his hatred for the Gospel and abusing his authority, and a police chief choosing to back said officer instead of respecting the law and someone’s freedom of speech. Keep in mind that there were lots of rowdy and intoxicated people in this park, and these were ignored.

The above exchange was videotaped and would have clearly shown the ridiculous nature of this charge. However, as I was being led to the police car and Ricky continued to film, the Chief of Police grabbed his arm and tried to knock the camera out of his hand. This somehow closed the camera application and erased the video file. Ricky was threatened with arrest if he did not surrender his identification. He adamantly refused, maintaining that he wished to protect his anonymity and wasn’t required by law to surrender his driver’s license unless he was being put under arrest for a crime. The Chief eventually capitulated and walked away.

Below is a link to some brief footage of Ricky preaching in the very spot just prior to our encounter with the police. As you can clearly see, there was no disturbing of the police or any inciting of violence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWbt_UlLZ7Q

Because I have been charged with a criminal offense and have a court date on August 30th in a town more than six hours from my home, I am concerned that this matter will affect my ability to leave the country and carry out some already-planned missionary work in Argentina later this year. We need to do everything in our power to get these bogus charges dropped. Below is contact information for the Holly Ridge Police Department and the Onslow County District Attorney. PLEASE HELP US FLOOD THESE OFFICES WITH TELEPHONE CALLS AND EMAILS, expressing concern over these bogus charges and demanding that they be dropped. Keep in mind, seeing as the formal charges in my hands are so full of lies, there is no way to know what these people will say in terms of recapping the events. Notwithstanding, please express concern over the targeting of those that preach the Gospel and demand that Sergeant Keith Whaley be immediately suspended for his actions and clear abuse of authority. Police departments and District Attorneys need to hear from Christians when stuff like this happens to insure the freedom of others that may come along later with a desire to openly share the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. A flood of calls and emails has worked before in other such incidents; let’s get it to work again. Thanks, in advance, for your help and concern. Moreover, thanks for all your prayers this past year: from the work in Africa to the beating in Kathmandu’s Ratna Park, from the mob violence in Bangladesh to our smuggling of Bibles and Gospel materials into Tibet. The Lord heard your prayers and did a mighty work. I look forward to sharing more detail with you in the near future concerning our homeward journey through Tibet, China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. It was glorious. Here is the contact information:

Holly Springs, NC Police Department

Tel: (919) 552-7110

John Herring, Chief of Police

Email: john.herring@hollyspringsnc.us

Sergeant Keith Whaley

Email: kwhaley@hollyridgepd.net

Office of the District Attorney, Onslow County

Tel: (910) 455-8008

For the Word of God and the Testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Jesse Boyd

P.S. Please pray for wisdom as I have to figure something out in terms of legal representation.

Message #2 – Mistake, Mistake

July 5, 2012

My dear friends, I am so sorry. In the hurry to get out information about last night’s arrest, I accidentally got Holly Springs, NC and Holly Ridge, NC confused in publicizing the contact information. We were arrested in Holly Ridge, NC not Holly Springs.

The Chief of Police was not John Herring, it was John Maiorano. Unforuntately, Holly Ridge PD’s website is ridiculously out of date. Sgt. Whaley definitely appears on there, but there is no picture of the chief and Maiorano may be retired as I have found a few things online to suggest this. So, I am not 100% sure that Maiorano was involved in the arrest; I only know for certain that it was the acting chief of police.

So, here is the corrected contact information. Please forgive me for the mistake:

Holly Ridge, NC Police Department

Tel: (910) 329-4076

John Maiorano, Chief of Police

Email: jmaiorano@hollyridgepd.net

Sergeant Keith Whaley

Email: kwhaley@hollyridgepd.net

Office of the District Attorney, Onslow County

Tel: (910) 455-8008

God Bless, thanks for the phone calls and emails in regards to my arrest.

Message #3 – Please Keep Up The Pressure

July 6, 2012

Dear brethren, I want to thank you for all the emails and phone calls to the Holly Ridge Police Department and the Onslow County District Attorney’s office yesterday. Today is Friday, the week’s last business day, and I sincerely believe that the pressure to drop all charges needs to be amped up before the weekend. Personally, I believe that phone calls carry the most weight and add the most pressure. Please consider calling the following numbers listed below, demanding that the disorderly conduct charges against me for using the word “repent” be dropped:

City Councilman Joseph Edwards: (910) 329-1939
City Councilwoman Carolyn Stanley: (910) 329-1179
Bettie Gurganus (this woman is also clerk of court for some reason): (910) 347-2232
City Councilman Gregory Hines: (910) 329-8261
City Councilman Jerry Wright: (910) 392-3180
Mayor Elmer Padgett: (910) 329-5951
Councilwoman Anita Dingler’s phone number is apparently unlisted, but her email address is dinglerchics@yahoo.com

Also, District Attorney Ernie Lee, whose office will decide whether to pursue prosecution, may be reached at 910-478-3699 and via email at ernest.r.lee@nccourts.org.

Please, let’s flood the lines today. Get this message and this story out to as many of your Facebook friends and email contacts as possible. This is the greatest strength we as Christians wield in these dark days when our freedoms are being trampled. If the homosexuals, pro-abortionists, communists, environmentalist whackos, and Occupy dissenters can be heard through such means, so can Bible-believing Christians.

If any of the above contacts request video footage, feel free to point them to the following links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ami1PcD63k (arrest footage)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWbt_UlLZ7Q (preaching just prior to arrest)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNIsJ3VME8o (the true irony of this arrest)

Here is the contact information for the local Jacksonville Daily News. I believe the media needs to hear about this.

Tel: 910-219-8409
Email: jdnletters@freedomenc.com (letters to the editor)

Your efforts are a true blessing and an encouragement. A brother warned me several months ago that I would preach all the way around the world without problems from police only to be arrested shortly after I returned home. Hey, it surely came to pass. Nonetheless, I believe the Lord will use it for His glory.

Message #4 – Charges Still Not Dropped

July 9, 2012

Greetings, dearly beloved family, in the name of the Most High God and His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,

Well, it’s Monday morning, and the criminal charges against me have not yet been dropped. In fact, Elmer Padgett, the mayor of Holly Ridge is now on record stating that police have the right to stop anyone from speaking if someone complains about the nature of their speech. This is a very dangerous statement with terrible implications for Christians. Many of you have made phone calls and sent emails over the past few days, and for that I am very grateful. Notwithstanding, however, I believe we need to keep up the pressure. The charges against me are serious, and they could result in up to six months of jail time. Please help us continue to badger the Holly Ridge Police Department, the Holly Ridge City Council Members, and the Onslow District Attorney’s Office into dropping these ridiculous charges IMMEDIATELY. If I end up having to appear in court on August 30th, some very important missionary work that we have planned later in the year could be scrapped. Below, I will again post the relevant contact information.

In case you haven’t seen the video titled TRUE IRONY that I produced in response to this situation, follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNIsJ3VME8o

Also, we were interviewed by American Family Radio last Friday. You can listen here:

http://www.afa.net/Radio/show.aspx?id=2147490466&tab=video&video=2147523828

Well, here is the contact information. Please flood the lines:

Holly Ridge, NC Police Department
Tel: (910) 329-4076

John Maiorano, Chief of Police
Email: jmaiorano@hollyridgepd.net

Sergeant Keith Whaley
Email: kwhaley@hollyridgepd.net

District Attorney Ernie Lee, whose office will decide whether to pursue prosecution, may be reached at 910-478-3699 and via email at ernest.r.lee@nccourts.org.

City Councilman Joseph Edwards: (910) 329-1939

City Councilwoman Carolyn Stanley: (910) 329-1179
Bettie Gurganus (this woman is also clerk of court for some reason): (910) 347-2232
City Councilman Gregory Hines: (910) 329-8261
City Councilman Jerry Wright: (910) 392-3180
Mayor Elmer Padgett: (910) 329-5951
Councilwoman Anita Dingler’s phone number is apparently unlisted, but her email address isdinglerchics@yahoo.com

Thanks for your concern, for holding the ropes, and for helping us take a stand against the rising tyranny in this once free nation. Spread the word.

Message #5 – Charges Dismiss

July 10, 2012

HALLELUJAH! Today, I received a personal telephone call from Onslow County District Attorney Ernie Lee. He has filed a dismissal of charges with the Onslow County Court. I do not have to appear on August 30th, and the $500 that I posted for bond is being mailed back to me.

And, my friends, here is the amazing thing. This is not the result of any attorney involvement; it hadn’t yet reached that point. This is purely the result of your phone calls and emails undergirded by the Almighty’s grace. When Christians flood the offices of government officials on a brother or sister’s behalf, change can be effectuated. Now, I believe we should turn these efforts toward Brother Michael Salman in Arizona who is currently in jail for having house church meetings in his home. Here is a link to that story, if you are interested:

http://christiannews.net/phoenix-pastor-sentenced-for-holding-home-worship-meetings-now-in-jail/

Also, I want to be on record noting that District Attorney Lee has proven himself to be an honorable man, as I had been told by several from the Onslow County area. He was so polite, and has acted very swiftly, personally wishing me and our ministry God’s blessing. I would encourage any of you who emailed or phoned him to do so again, thanking him for upholding freedom of speech through his actions and wishing God’s blessing upon his work and efforts for Onslow County, NC. Here is the relevant contact information:

Ernest Lee, District Attorney

910-478-3699 or via email at ernest.r.lee@nccourts.org

Now, I also covet your prayers. As far as I am concerned, this matter is NOT closed. I really believe Elmer Padgett, the Mayor of Holly Ridge who is on record saying that police have “the right” to stop someone from speaking “if someone complains,” needs to be held accountable for such blatant unconstitutional remarks. I believe Chief Maiorano and Officer Whaley need to be held accountable in some way for their thuggish actions that night. I do not know what this looks like exactly and am currently receiving counsel from a reputable Christian Liberty organization on the matter. Whatever we do going forward will be for the sake of local believers who have a love for sharing their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as we did in Hickory, NC several years ago, we need to act in a way that insures the freedom of said believers in this community going forward. This must never be allowed to happen again! Please pray for divine wisdom and guidance in this matter.

Alas, today is a day of rejoicing. Praise God for Jesus Christ! Praise God for my Christian brethren! Praise God for District Attorney Lee! Praise God for my arrest on July 4th! Romans 8:28 is promise; it’s a fact.

Thanks for all your support, phone calls, and emails. Again, please express your gratitude to DA Lee, and offer him some encouragement.

Following are some images from Jesse Boyd’s FaceBook page from 2020. They are provided in order to give more insight into the thinking of Jesse Boyd.