Seven Seized in Barricaded Church : Pennsylvania Standoff Ends as Deputies Arrest Dissidents

CLAIRTON, Pa. —  A highly charged standoff between legal authorities and dissidents at a Lutheran church--where supporters of its jailed pastor had barricaded themselves for nine days--ended without violence Friday when sheriff’s deputies broke down a door and arrested seven persons.

After 44 deputies armed with billy clubs ringed the church grounds, Sheriff Eugene Coon said the dissidents--who had brandished baseball bats earlier in the stalemate--offered “no resistance whatsoever.” Coon declared: “I think they were a little overwhelmed.”

For nearly two months, this economically depressed western Pennsylvania steel town about 20 miles from Pittsburgh has been riveted by the bitter controversy generated by Trinity Lutheran Church and its pastor, D. Douglas Roth. Roth and his followers--about half the congregation--have joined forces with members of two local activist groups that have used disruptive tactics to protest what they call “corporate evil” and the plight of the unemployed.

90-Day Jail Term

Roth, who had been fired by the local synod of the Lutheran Church in America for his activities, was given a 90-day jail sentence Nov. 13 after he refused to surrender the pulpit. On Dec. 27, his supporters locked themselves in the church and vowed that they would never relinquish its keys or records to the synod, despite court orders to do so. They were declared in contempt of court earlier this week by Common Pleas Judge Emil Narick.

Coon, who had been ordered by Narick to take control of the building, used a bullhorn to order those inside to “open the doors and come out.” When there was no response, deputies broke through a wooden basement door that had been barricaded from the inside with a piano.

Inside, they found seven persons huddled against a glass side door. They were taken into custody immediately and driven away in police vans. The entire operation, which began just after daybreak, took 16 minutes.

When deputies entered the building, Coon said, they found about half a dozen baseball bats, gas masks and other supplies. “It looks like they were bedded down for a long winter,” he said.

Arrested at Hearing

At a hearing later before Narick, an eighth person, Wayne Cochran, president of the church council, was arrested on outstanding charges of contempt when the judge spotted him in the courtroom. Roth also appeared before Narick, as did the seven defendants removed from the church.

Four of the defendants, including Cochran, refused Narick’s order to each pay $985 in compensation to the synod and were sentenced to 60 days in jail. The remaining four were jailed pending their sentencing Monday. Roth was sentenced to another 60-day term, scheduled to run concurrently with his current sentence, for his role in the withholding of the church records and keys.

Also among those arrested was Nadine Roth, the jailed pastor’s wife and a member of the church council; the Rev. William Rex, pastor of the Rosecrest Lutheran Church in nearby Monroeville, and unemployed shipbuilder Paul Brandt. Both Rex and Brandt had been sought under criminal arrest warrants issued Wednesday.

Rex and Brandt were charged with throwing balloons filled with water and skunk scent at a children’s Christmas party in a Presbyterian church in Pittsburgh. Present at the function were some executives of corporations that the activist groups blame for unemployment in the region.

Vows to Continue

The Rev. John Gropp, pastor of Duquesne Lutheran Church near Pittsburgh and a supporter of Roth, vowed Friday that the overall battle had not ended with the sheriff’s takeover of the church.

Similarly, a statement issued by one of the activist groups declared: “The church will be retaken at the appropriate time, and worship will be held at Trinity this Sunday.” Church services had continued to be held in Roth’s absence, using sermons that he has written in jail.

After the dissidents were removed, deputies hammered “No Trespassing” signs onto the church’s front lawn. Coon said deputies now are stationed inside the church, where new locks have been installed. Keys to the locks were given to synod officials.

Jo Anne Randolph, a member of the church opposed to Roth’s activism, watched the arrests from across the street. “I want them out of my church,” she said. “I’m glad it’s over.”