You are seeing these kinds of tactics being increasingly used by the government, arresting people or demanding information when those arrests & demands clearly vilolate the law! What they want to do is tie people up in legal red tape for lengthy periods as a form of intimidation. Knowing that just spending time in jail before any court date that would surely dismiss the charges is enough to silence people!
Would the hero cops have arrested muslims doing the same thing? The cops should be prosecuted.
If this ever happens to you or to your friends, please contact The Alliance Defense Fund. This non-profit, Christian legal ministry gladly provides free legal defense at no charge. The always win in cases of violation of your free speech rights… the right to evangelize on public sidewalks.
Please contact them. This case is not new. Christians have been winning such cases handily for over a decade… and the loser pays!