Louisiana pastor Tony Spell has been ordered to remain at least 50 yards away from his neighbor’s residence, except when retrieving his mail. This restriction comes after a protection order was issued against him, following his arrest and subsequent use of a homophobic slur to describe his alleged assault victim, as captured on bodycam footage.
The 48-year-old Spell is prohibited from contacting the neighbor in any form, online or in person, as outlined in the order issued on Friday, reported by The Advocate.
“Mr. Spell may walk over and check his mailbox; other than checking his mailbox, he is to be 50 yards away from the protected person’s property,” the order specifies.
Spell, who leads Baton Rouge’s Life Tabernacle Church, faces a second-degree battery charge and will appear in court in September in connection with last month’s altercation near the church.
He asserts that Scott Sherwin’s son threatened to kill and rape his wife before Spell retaliated with 35 blows.
Two days after the incident, Sherwin reported Spell for allegedly mowing his lawn at 4 a.m., according to WBRZ.
“He’s doing this to intimidate my victim son,” Sherwin stated in bodycam footage reviewed by The Post.
“Do you cut your grass at 4 in the morning?” he questioned the responding officer.
“You gotta get him to stop, man,” the frustrated father insisted.
Sherwin alleged that Spell’s actions amounted to “psychological warfare,” preventing his family from sleeping.
Visibly upset, Sherwin reportedly swore and gestured offensively at Spell, as seen in the bodycam footage.
“I was asleep when this started at four in the morning,” Sherwin emphasized, pointing at his phone.
The officer then approached Spell, who was seated on his lawnmower, and asked for his name.
“Everybody in the world knows my name,” Spell confidently replied.
If convicted, Spell could face up to eight years in prison. He used a homophobic slur while referring to Sherwin’s son and seemed to take pride in the physical altercation that became widely shared online.
“He’s just sore because I beat the crap out of his f—-t boy,” Spell commented.
“And he’s next if he comes over here and harasses these boys,” he added, referring to Sherwin, as a group of teenagers looked on.
Spell then started his lawnmower and instructed the boys to “get to work,” effectively telling them to leave.
After being released from jail, Spell vigorously defended his actions.
“Number one, I’m a husband, number two, I’m a father, and number three, I’m a pastor who shepherds his flock,” he stated. “I will not allow a man to murder my children when I’m gone,” he told reporters.
Spell recounted the alleged threats made by Sherwin’s son, which he claims led to the confrontation.
“He said, ‘Tony, I’m going to rape your wife, I’m going to rape all your grandchildren, and the next time you go out of town, I’m going to kill them,'” Spell alleged.
He addressed the incident to his congregation, likening it to “domestic terrorism.” He also referenced a Bible passage from Mark 16:18, as reported by WAFB.
“In my name, they shall lay hands on the sick. And they shall recover,” he quoted.
“So today, I fulfilled the scripture. I laid hands on the sick. I don’t know how much recovery they’re going to have, but I laid hands on the sick.”
Spell’s feud with Sherwin dates back to a lawsuit filed in 2020 over surveillance cameras that had been installed.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Spell defied Louisiana’s social distancing restrictions by holding in-person church services, resulting in a ticket.
He claimed the surveillance cameras were meant to monitor him.
In April 2020, Spell faced accusations of assaulting a protester outside his church, reportedly backing his church bus toward Trey Bennett, the protester, as stated by WAFB-TV.
He was arrested for aggravated assault but was never formally charged.
