A pastor husband who came under suspicion after his wife’s high-profile suicide in the spring has been arrested days after an FBI raid on his South Carolina home.
John-Paul Miller, 45, was arrested Wednesday and charged with third-degree assault and battery. The arrest was unrelated to the raid on his home on Friday, reports WMBF.
A witness captured footage of the incident, showing a woman chasing John-Paul in a parking lot and harassing him. The woman is believed to be a ‘Justice for Mica’ protestor, alleging the pastor was involved in his wife Mica Miller’s death in April.
John-Paul was initially seen running away from the woman, Sandra Karon, as she screamed at him. He then turns back and confronts her, shouting back: ‘What did you say? You walked right up to me.’
Karon told WMBF that Miller squared up to her and tapped her on her hat with his phone, resulting in the assault charges.
John-Paul Miller, 45, a pastor who came under suspicion after his wife’s high-profile suicide in the spring has been arrested after an FBI raid on his home
John-Paul’s wife Mica Miller committed suicide in April, and her passing drew national attention as scrutiny fell on her husband’s behavior in the weeks after her death
Footage of the incident showed a ‘Justice for Mica’ protestor clash with John-Paul outside his church, and his assault charges resulted from him tapping her hat with his phone
John-Paul previously raised eyebrows when he delivered a bizarre sermon after his wife’s apparent suicide in April, which triggered a wave of allegations of ‘abuse’ in their marriage and his ‘sexual encounters’ with underage girls.
Police have not indicated that they believe John-Paul was involved in his wife’s death.
Following his arrest, John-Paul will be in court Thursday for a bond hearing, and will be hauled before a judge again on December 10.
The assault and battery charges are reportedly unrelated to an FBI raid on his home on Friday, the nature of which is still a mystery.
Neighbors said at the time they’d been told agents were there to execute a search warrant, with Miller not believed to be at home when law enforcement arrived.
Karon said her clash with Miller on Wednesday began when she and other locals went to Miller’s church, the Market Common Church, after hearing rumors it was being emptied of its contents.
Believing the emptying of the church to be related to the FBI raid, Karon said she then saw Miller at the church, leading her to chase after him and call him a number of expletives.
Sandra Karon said she approached John-Paul and ‘could see why they might say it was antagonistic’
Karon admitted that she could ‘see why (people) would say it was antagonistic’ for her to approach John-Paul in the way that she did, but justified her actions and said he should not have touched her.
Explaining her side of the encounter, Karon said after John-Paul turned around and approached her, ‘he stood right up in my face and said ‘what are you gonna do?”
‘He had his phone up in my face, and tapped my hat twice while he was saying it,’ she continued. ‘That triggered me to immediately scream ‘don’t touch me.’
‘I could see why they might say it was antagonistic, but to antagonize someone into doing something illegal, am I responsible for him doing that?’
