03/17/2014
LINCOLN — A man who was distributing religious fliers outside of Lincoln's Pinnacle Bank Arena faces a trespassing charge, which he says he intends to fight.
Larry Ball was jailed after he approached strangers and asked if they wanted a small green flier titled “How to Know God,” according to the Lincoln Journal Star.
Ball, 76, was standing outside the arena during the boys state basketball tournament on Saturday. The arena sits on public property owned by the City of Lincoln and the West Haymarket Joint Public Agency.
According to police, the arena's security staff called police when Ball ventured beyond traffic barricades near the arena. Lincoln Police Officer Brian Ward said Ball had been warned several times.
Ball was released Saturday after posting bail.
Ball told the Associated Press on Sunday that he plans to fight the charge. Ball said he had spent the past three days at the arena handing out fliers and didn't pressure anyone who declined to take one. He acknowledged that security staff asked him to leave, but he argued that authorities had no right to remove him.
“I told them to go fly a kite — this was public property,” he said.
“My taxes help pay for that silly building. I like to eat out, and when I do, 2½ percent of my bill goes to it. That is public property, and you're not going to keep me off of it.”
City Attorney Rod Confer said that he was unfamiliar with the exact legal situation but that he didn't know of any specific city codes restricting people from handing out religious literature on the arena grounds.
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