Arsonists allegedly attempted to burn down the house of Pastor Artur Pawlowski, the Alberta pastor who drew international attention earlier this month when Calgary Police arrested him and his brother in the middle of a busy highway on their way home from church.
“It’s insanity, this whole thing is getting out of hand,” Pawlowski told Rebel News (video below). “We’re fighting for the rights of people, for all rights for all people, all colors; that everyone can come and express themselves, and here’s what we are being subjected to.”
Pawlowski went on to explain how at approximately 11:30 p.m. last Saturday — which fell exactly one week after his arrest for continuing to hold church services in excess of the 15-person cap on religious gatherings in Alberta — his wife heard “a commotion” outside their house and discovered a heavy firefighter and police presence.
Thinking at first they had come to arrest him again in the middle of the night after he had been released last week, Pawlowski and his wife realized the firefighters were extinguishing a fire. Then they realized the fire was in their own garage.
Inspectors don’t yet know the details, Pawlowski said, but explained the fire apparently was started with cardboard in a blue bin that was placed up against the garage’s wooden door.
“Someone set our property on fire, someone wants us dead,” he said. “And I’m thinking, why? I’m feeding the poor, I’m feeding Muslims, I’m feeding homosexuals. I’m feeding whites, and Asians, and blacks. I’m feeding people and I’m not hurting anyone and they want me dead and they want my children dead.”
Authorities have ticketed Pawlowski in the past for preaching outdoors and feeding the homeless.
“This is shocking,” Pawlowski continued. “I would never imagine that we would be living in a country that the differences — you know, our rights to be different, our rights to be able to express ourselves in a different way than others — would be punishable by death by some of those people.”
Pawlowski, who received widespread attention for his arrest, as well as for his claims about being mistreated in prison and for his denunciation of some Canadian politicians as “evil,” believes he was the target of a hate crime.
“I don’t know at this moment,” Pawlowski said regarding what extra measures he and his brother intended to take to protect themselves. “I don’t know what can be done. If someone wants to hurt you, I guess they got all kinds of ways.”
“If they want to hurt you, they can hurt you,” he added.
Describing the incident as another sad day for democracy and humanity, Pawlowski concluded, “Agree to disagree. You don’t have to like me but, my God, you want me dead? And my children? Why? All in the name of tolerance?”
As The Daily Wire reported, police pulled over Pawlowski and his brother, Dawid, on May 8 to inform them that they were under arrest for allegedly violating Alberta’s Public Health Act by continuing to hold church services. Pawlowski also repeatedly ejected police and health officials from his church when they attempted to enter during worship.
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