fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

The pastor and the policemen

by Jesse J. Smith
April 14, 2016
in Crime, News
0
Pastor Dhasan McComb. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)

A Kingston pastor said that he was merely spreading the word of God outside his downtown storefront church when he was hauled away in handcuffs in front of an audience of horrified young parishioners. But Kingston police described the incident outside of Pastor Dhasan McComb’s New Beginnings Church as a “tantrum” that caused public alarm.

According to McComb, the incident occurred on the evening of Friday, June 15 as he presided over services for about 60 attendees of youth night at the non-denominational Christian congregation located inside the Rondout Plaza at 85 Murray St. The weekly event features a mix of games activities and preaching —teaching kids, McComb said, “about life and the Bible.” That night in the midst of a sermon entitled “Character Assassination” about the perils of being defined by one’s past rather than the present or future, McComb said he was “moved by the Holy Spirit” to carry his message outside onto the street.

After preaching on the street, returning inside the church and once again moving the sermon outdoors, McComb said police began arriving in the plaza. McComb said that he believes cops were called after a passerby began heckling the sermon and trying to start a debate. McComb said that he continued his sermon paying no mind to the heckler but, he believes, someone may have mistakenly thought a fight was in the offing.

“Somebody was trying to debate me about why I was out there,” said McComb, who has been pastor at New Beginnings for six months. “But I wasn’t paying any attention to that, I’m delivering the word of God.”

According to a police report, cops were dispatched to a call of a “man throwing a tantrum in the parking lot” and a “man trying to start a fight.” Eventually five Kingston cops and an Ulster County sheriff’s deputy were sent to the scene. According to McComb he was heading back into the church when a Kingston police officer approached him and asked him if he was carrying any weapons.

“I told him, ‘I don’t have no weapons, I’m a pastor,’” McComb said. “I said, ‘Look at all these kids around here, why would I have a weapon?’”

Frisked and cursed?

In response, McComb said, the officer asked if he would submit to a pat-down search. McComb said that when he declined to be frisked, the officer grabbed him, placed him against a police car and cursed at him.

Page 1 of 2
12Next
Tags: Kingston Police Departmentrondout
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

Jesse J. Smith

Related Posts

Ulster County announces grant funding for local youth programs
Business

Ulster County announces grant funding for local youth programs

September 19, 2025
“Suspicious” death at Vanderbilt Mansion: photo of body released, police ask public to help identify
News

Ex-janitor at Kingston middle school charged with felonies for illicit recording of minors

September 18, 2025
Shawangunk car crash fatal for Pine Bush man
News

NY police officially integrate autism awareness in enforcement efforts

September 18, 2025
Woodstock seeks help with installing 5g equipment on tower
Politics & Government

Officials, residents split on need for Verizon tower in Phoenicia

September 18, 2025
Hurley hires Jim Quigley
Business

Ulster Supervisor Quigley in catbird’s seat as battery plant plan advances

September 17, 2025
Woodstock tussles with local immigrant protection policy
Education

Concerns rise over ICE activity in Kingston schools

September 17, 2025
Next Post

Hugh Reynolds: Time for Tyner?

Weather

Kingston, NY
57°
Sunny
6:41 am6:56 pm EDT
Feels like: 57°F
Wind: 0mph SW
Humidity: 67%
Pressure: 30.36"Hg
UV index: 3
MonTueWed
77°F / 57°F
79°F / 61°F
73°F / 57°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing