The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) arrested 35-year-old Jose Salvador Martinez after he entered Lifepoint Church in Clarksville, Tennessee, on Friday and locked himself in the church’s pantry.
Deputies responded to the scene, cleared the building, and found Martinez barricaded inside the pantry. Authorities said he refused to communicate, prompting deputies to force the door open to engage with him.
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Martinez reportedly became combative and physically resisted the deputies, leading to his arrest. He was transported to a hospital for medical evaluation following the incident. Authorities have not yet disclosed a motive for Martinez’s actions.
Earlier this year, an individual set a trailer full of Bibles on fire before fleeing the scene in front of Global Vision Bible Church in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee on Easter Sunday.
Mt. Juliet Fire Department crews contained and extinguished the fire, but not before the Bibles in the trailer burned.
Sheriff Robert Bryan told News Channel 5 Nashville at the time that investigators are examining the security footage, and said the car appeared to be an out-of-state plate.
Pastor Greg Locke leads Global Vision Bible Church.
Locke said in a Facebook post that his security team caught a man dropping off the trailer who then got out and set the trailer of Bibles on fire in front of the church.
“There was a lady that had driven through the night to get to our church, and she was in the parking lot and was able to get the police officers here quickly, but it was quite the scene to wake up to on my first morning back from Israel. Had to block traffic in all directions but they are almost finished cleaning it up. It’s going to be a great day in the Lord. The enemy is already.”
Locke told WKRN he was shocked when he saw the burned Bibles and that the suspect was “very meticulous” and called the act a “rebellious statement” toward the church.
To order Greg Locke’s new book, “The Generosity Journey,” visit Amazon.com.
“It was strange because he had his blinkers on, and he scotched the wheels and everything,” Locke said. “He was very meticulous, so he had to be very courageous to do what he did.”
This article originally appeared on American Faith, and is reposted with permission.
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