Louisiana Pastor BEATS UP Man Who Allegedly Threatened to Rape & Kill His Family

A Louisiana pastor is stirring up controversy after he beat up a man who he says made sickening threats against his family.

Pastor Tony Spell from Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, LA claims that a 20-year-old neighbor threatened to rape and kill his wife and grandchildren.

According to Pastor Spell, the young man said, “What the f*ck are you going to do about it?”

Well, Pastor Spell showed him exactly what he was going to do about it and gave him the pummeling of a lifetime.

Footage of the confrontation is going viral online:

Full text of that post:

Louisiana pastor beats up a man who allegedly threatened to r*pe and kill his wife and grandchildren.

Pastor Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church says he was working on a church bus when the neighbor’s son started shouting at him.

Spell said that it is his job as the natural protector to protect his church and family.

“He said, ‘Tony, I’m gonna r*pe your wife, I’m gonna r*pe all of your grandchildren,’ and he said, ‘The next time you go out of town, I’m gonna kill them, and what the F are you going to do about it?” Spell said.

The neighbors, the Sherwin family, claim Spell is not telling the truth, but during a press conference, Spell was backed by members of his church who say they’ve made multiple complaints about the Sherwin family to police.

Spell’s attorney says the Sherwin family has “a large, industrial-scale camera that could see from across the street all the way into the pulpit.”

Spell was hit with multiple misdemeanor summonses in 2020 during the COVID lockdowns when he refused to close his church.

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“The Central City police are friends with these folks across the street. When Pastor Spell was being surveilled 24/7, it was with the help of the man across the street,” Spell’s lawyer said.

The pastor was reportedly arrested and booked for second-degree battery.

Despite the young man in that clip throwing the first punch, Pastor Spell was arrested after the incident on a charge of second-degree battery.

He was released on bond and immediately returned to church to give his congregation a very interesting sermon…

“In my name, they shall lay hands on the sick. And they shall recover,” he said, referencing Scripture,

“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.”

Watch his sermon for yourself here:

If this story is all true, then this is one incredibly based pastor!

After he was done beating the absolute brakes off the guy who allegedly threatened to rape his wife & grandkids, Pastor Spell told his church: "I fulfilled scripture, I laid hands on the sick."

No, I’m not joking. That’s one hell of a line. 😂

If all of this is true: HERO! 🫡 https://t.co/hs4gH92Ebs pic.twitter.com/7PR6DksAdt

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 25, 2026

Pastor Spell says that this was not his first conflict with the 20-year-old neighbor or his family.

According to the pastor, the Sherwin family has been harassing him for years now. However, they deny his claims.

WAFB has more on the situation:

The young man’s father, Scott Sherwin, said his son suffered a cut to his chin that required five stitches.

During the news conference, Spell said he believed he had a responsibility to protect his family.

“I have a duty and obligation to do what I did,” he said.

Spell’s attorney, Jeffrey Wittenbrink, also criticized Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran and the Central Police Department, claiming previous complaints involving harassment of the Spell family were not adequately addressed.

Spell said there has been a long-standing feud between his family and Sherwin’s.

“There’s certainly a failure of laws and enforcers to keep the peace,” Wittenbrink said.

Corcoran rejected those claims.

“That’s not true,” the chief said.

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According to Corcoran, police records show five reported incidents involving Spell and his wife during the past four years. He said only one of those reports involved a complaint against the neighboring family.

Corcoran challenged Spell to provide additional details regarding any other complaints.

“Please give me dates and times that these calls have been made here, and we will audit our recorded system to look at that,” Corcoran said.

The chief also denied any suggestion that his department failed to properly investigate complaints.

“I would defend Mr. Spell, Mrs. Spell, their family, their kids, just as well as I would defend anybody in the city of Central,” Corcoran said.

The young man’s father denied Spell’s allegations, telling WAFB that he believes his son never made the threats described by the pastor.

Pastor Spell recently shared his side of the story in an address to the media, which you can watch here:

Pastor Tony Spell addressed the media, speaking about his battery arrest during a news conference on Wednesday, June 24.

Speaking from the Life Tabernacle Church, where he serves as faith leader, Pastor Spell repeated the alleged threats he says the neighbor hurled at his… pic.twitter.com/a9IflmqE5x

— WAFB (@WAFB) June 24, 2026

The incident is getting a lot of reactions on social media, with some praising the pastor for protecting his family and flock:

Based. Christians dont have to get pushed around when threatened like this.

— Homemade Guns and Right Wing Politics (@_terrapin_hike_) June 25, 2026

God helps those who help themselves. Well done pastor

— George Orwell (@G3orge_Orw3ll) June 25, 2026

A shepherd must look after his flock, and at times, fight off the wolves.

— jamesr9291 (@jamesr9291) June 25, 2026

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But, others think he went too far:

I take threat seriously! But this is definitely not the right way to deal with it. Sadly the law do not do much for threat until it is too late!

— KaiAlyna (@kaialyna) June 25, 2026