3 men arrested, 2 released for trespassing at Northwest Fresno places of worship

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Around 4:30 Thursday afternoon, Fresno Police say they got reports of men shouting and taping up fliers at Temple Beth Israel in Northwest Fresno.

Those men are now identified as 32-year-olds Christopher Avila, Daniel Watson and Colin Laurila.

"It's keeping people on edge, which is not where we want to be," Temple Beth Israel Rabbi Rick Winer said.

Police say when the men were approached by staff, they started quoting Bible verses and questioning their beliefs -- eventually threatening the employees if they were to take the signs down.

"We got through some of the demonstrations in Fresno peacefully, and that was nice, and then here on campus, someone decided to violate our sanctuary here, and it's unnerving," Rabbi Winer said. "The nice thing is there was no damage."

Officers say the men were involved in a similar incident at another place of worship before the one at the Temple Beth Israel.

Similar fliers were found at St. Anthony's of Padua, a Catholic church on Bullard and Maroa Avenues, where the group was detained and arrested.

"There's no indication at this time that this is a hate crime," Fresno Police Lt. Bill Dooley said. "It appears that these individuals were just wanting to profess their religious beliefs."

All three have been charged with several misdemeanors: posting signs on closed lands, trespassing and conspire to commit a crime.

Avila is also facing a felony charge for making criminal threats to the staff at the temple.

Avila remained in jail Friday afternoon, but Laurila and Watson were cited and released.

They say they have gone all over the United States to preach their message, claiming to have been sent to Fresno by God.

"We don't do religion. We follow the bible," Watson explained.

Watson says he's been arrested before for similar acts in New York and will continue his religious journey outside of Fresno.

"Anywhere else, it's legal. Anywhere else, we'll spread this word," Watson said. "Now we know that we can't post signs on private property in the state of California, so we'll post them on the light post because that's municipal property."

Authorities say none of the men are from California.

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