As an American, Reverend Patrick Mahoney believed he was living in the land of freedom. Recent events, however, caused him to question that belief.

Mahoney, who serves as the chief strategy officer for the Stanton Public Policy Center, recently posted on Facebook that he was meeting “with my legal team about my arrest on the public sidewalk in front of the Chinese Embassy. I love that I have a legal team!.”

The meeting followed Mahoney’s arrest for holding a peaceful, one man prayer protest, in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC.

For more than 40 years, Mahoney has advocated for believers in Communist China who face persecution under the country’s authoritarian government.

Shortly after Jinping’s state visit to the United State in late September, Mahoney reportedly place a red carpet in front of the Chinese Embassy bearing the names of the Chinese Christians who have been imprisoned for their faith according to Crosswalk.

These included the individuals associated with Zion church such as Jimmy Lai and Pastor Cho and as well the many believers in Hong Kong who have similarly been imprisoned for the faith.

Upwards of 150 pastors are reportedly sitting in Chinese prison cells, where the persecution of Christians has intensified since Xi Jinping came to power in 2013.

During his protest, Mahoney not only prayed for the imprisoned Christians, he also wanted to remind the world of the persecution taking place under China’s Communist regime.

However, China’s embassy officials objected to the protest, which exposed the repression of religious freedoms in China. They contacted the U.S. Secret Service asking them to shut down Mahoney’s demonstration.

When two members of the secret service arrived and asked Mahoney to stop, he refused. Mahoney argued that he was standing on a public sidewalk, where American are free to walk and even protest. The Chinese Embassy alleges that the sidewalk is its property.

Mahoney told the officers that he had held several protests on this sidewalk before and never encountered any problems.

When Mahoney refused to leave, officers arrested him and place him in handcuffs.

Mahoney’s arrest was videoed and posted on Facebook. As officers led him away, Mahoney turned to the camera and made a few comments.

“I’m being arrested on a public sidewalk in front of the Chinese embassy,” Mahoney said. A fire hydrant is visible beside him in the video. “I have been here dozens of times. It is tragic that I’m being treated like a Chinese citizen. This is a sad day in America when an American citizen, a clergyman, who’s praying on a public sidewalk in America, is arrested for celebrating the First Amendment.”

The American Center for Law and Justice has agreed to represent Mahoney in the resulting court proceedings.

“One would expect to be treated like this in China, where there is no such thing as free speech, the 1st Amendment or religious freedom. However, it is quite another thing to see the government of the United States trample and crush free speech here in America. It is the worst possible message we could send to China’s leaders and the world,” Mahoney added in a statement published via Christian Newswire.

Ironically, the Chinese government’s alleged attempt to shut down the protest may have resulted in more people learning about the persecution taking place in the communist regime.