ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A St. Petersburg pastor is speaking out after one of two charges against him and another city clergyman was dropped following their arrests during the state’s removal of a “Black History Matters” street mural.

Reverend Ben Atherton-Zeman, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg, and Reverend Andy Oliver, pastor of Allendale United Methodist Church, were arrested Aug. 29 after kneeling in the middle of the road outside the Woodson African American Museum of Florida, where Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) crews were removing the mural.

“Pastor Andy and I were able to get onto the mural, were able to kneel down and start praying and I was praying that the mural would not be erased,” Atherton-Zeman said.

Instead, both pastors were taken into custody.

“We were hauled away and arrested for the crime of praying on a mural that says, ‘Black History Matters’,” Atherton-Zeman said.

St. Petersburg police said the two refused to move after multiple demands and were charged with resisting an officer without violence.

“They were doing their jobs. There was a gentleman, a sergeant, who said, ‘Yes, we want you to move,’ and I respectfully said, ‘No, I’m feeling called to pray here on this mural.’ We were asked to move a few more times, and then they removed us, and we spent the night in jail,” Atherton-Zeman said.

While one charge has since been dropped, the two clergymen still face a charge of obstructing a highway or hindering traffic.

“It wasn’t pleasant, but I’m really trying to stay focused on this issue of erasure. I think that’s the greater crime,” Atherton-Zeman said of the night he spent in jail.

A new state law bans murals on intersections, sidewalks, crosswalks, shoulders and lanes, calling them a safety hazard.

In Tampa this past August, state officials defended the removals.

“Pavement art is not allowed and we’re removing everything that’s not compliant with state, federal standards and that’s the approach we’re taking,” said Jared Perdue, secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation.

Pastor Oliver issued a statement to 8 On Your Side:

“Many of you know that another pastor and I were facing criminal charges—potentially up to a year in jail for kneeling in prayer at the mural outside the Woodson Museum while the state tried to erase Black history from our streets. In initial conversations with our lawyer, the state attorney’s office said they fully planned to prosecute. We just received word that those charges have been dropped.

I cannot say this without naming how differently this story might have turned out if the people kneeling had been Black, Brown, or queer. Even as clergy, we were treated poorly by the SPPD the night we were arrested, and still, our experience was undoubtedly better than so many others in our city. Every single day, people here are arrested for nonviolent offenses, for nothing more than existing while homeless.

The only thing that remains against me is a traffic citation for $62.50. That’s the same citation most often given to our unhoused neighbors when they are criminalized simply for surviving. So here’s my ask: I would like every person who reads these words to give $62.50 to the Woodson Museum (see link in comments). Let’s turn that citation into an act of solidarity—into support for the work of preserving and telling the truth of Black history in our city.

And let me be clear about this: my immediate focus now is exposing how poorly our city police are treating people on the margins who are arrested for nonviolent offenses. Video evidence exists. We only need to watch, to pay attention, and to demand better.

By no means, do not mistake this for the end of the struggle. Empire (red and blue) still seeks to erase. We will keep placing our bodies in solidarity. And we will keep declaring that love, justice, and truth get the last word. Liberation is coming!”

Atherton-Zeman said he sees the arrests as a moral and religious issue.

“I think when the state gets in the business of saying what voices we can hear from and what voices we can’t, I think that’s troubling,” Atherton-Zeman said. “I think any religious leader and any community leader should really be standing up and saying, ‘No, that’s not the state’s job’.”

He added that he hopes the message will outlast the mural.

“I think there is no erasing of this LGBTQIA+ community, this Black and BIPOC community. I think we’re going to come back, if not as a mural on the street then some other way,” he said.

Court records show the two face a $62.50 fine for obstructing a highway and hindering traffic.

Both pastors are urging supporters to donate that amount to the Woodson African American Museum of Florida in solidarity.