Street preachers arrested on Queen’s campus to appear in court this week

Steven Ravbar and Matthew Carapella will appear in court on March 5.
Credit: 
Journal File Photo

The two street preachers who were arrested near campus in January will appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Kingston on Thursday morning.

Kingston Police charged Steven Ravbar and Matthew Carapella with causing a disturbance on Jan. 24. The two men had been standing at the corner of University Ave. and Earl St., holding signs that referenced Bible verses and included quotes like “The judgement of the great whore” and “She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.” On their backs, the two men wore signs that said “Behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven” and “Remember Lot’s wife.”

Ravbar and Carapella, who have a history in London, Ontario of similar harassment, asked female students as they walked by whether they were Christians or called them whores, often suggesting women should wear “long, loose-fitting skirts.”

The two men were arrested on Jan. 23 and charged the following day.

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

When commenting, be considerate and respectful of writers and fellow commenters. Try to stay on topic. Spam and comments that are hateful or discriminatory will be deleted. Our full commenting policy can be read here.