HAMMOND, Ind. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Mayor of Hammond said he plans to talk to prosecutors Monday about church elders who held services Sunday in defiance of a stay-at-home order.
The stay at home order was from Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, and according to Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., the Church of Christ violated it Sunday morning.
Mayor McDermott Jr. brought the matter to light on Facebook on Sunday, calling out the ministers at the Church of Christ, on 169th Street and Leland Avenue, for having Palm Sunday services Sunday morning.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said the church elders should know better than to allow congregations to gather like that.
“I think just the fact that they had the first service, they violated the law criminally, and I’m going to speak to the prosecutor about that tomorrow (Monday), but if they were going forward with the 5 o’clock, it would have been more serious,” Mayor McDermott Jr. told CBS 2.
Hammond Police found more than 30 people in the church on Palm Sunday. Some had masks on, but most did not.
Police asked the church elders to disperse the congregation and obey the Governor's shelter in place order.
Church elders told the officers the services were essential, and refused to leave. Police ticketed them, and the services went on.
“Our community is not going to back down from churchgoing,” church member Justin Gluth told CBS 2. “Our community is not going to back down from the coronavirus.”
Mayor McDermott Jr. said people were still walking into the church, while police were there.