Joel Osteen hecklers released after arrests for shouting at preacher at Lakewood Church

Four of the six men who were arrested last year for heckling Joel Osteen while he was preaching were released on Wednesday, June 22.

The jury found Matthew Martinez, Mark DeRouville, Kevin Fessler and Randall Valdez not guilty for creating a disturbance last year when they shouted at Osteen while he was delivering his sermon during a worship service in Lakewood Church. The judge also dismissed the trespassing charges against them.

Fessler said the verdict handed to them at Harris County Courthouse was evidence that God was on their side.

"We were unashamed of the gospel unto death. We were willing to suffer. We were willing to go to jail or anything," he said, according to ABC 13.

The men are members of The Church of Wells in Texas. Witnesses said they were shouting that Osteen was a "false prophet," and one of the men stood up and shouted "Shame on you, Joel! Shame on you, Joel!" USA Today reported.

Some Lakewood Church ushers, who happened to be law enforcement officers, quickly responded to the situation and escorted the men out.

Osteen testified during the trial. He said he could hear the men shouting with a tone of hostility in their voices, but he could not see them.

"I think they were passionate about what they believe," Osteen said, according to Chron. He also said the men did not look like they had plans to leave and would not have left if the ushers did not escort them out, as opposed to what the defense attorneys said.

The defense lawyers told the jury that the men were just there to send a message to Osteen, and that they willingly left when they were asked to leave.

"Let's not criminalize speech," Brad Loper, one of the defense attorneys, said.

The trial revolved not around whether the men disturbed the sermon, which was already an acknowledged fact, but around what their intentions were.

Fessler said they believe Osteen was not preaching the true gospel, because the true gospel "turns people from their sins."

"The true gospel causes a man to have godly sorrow over their sins, and to live a holy life. That's not what he's preaching," Fessler said.

A woman and her husband who watched the trial said the men from the Church of Wells are "not who they say they are." Their daughter joined the church three years ago and have not returned home. The couple believe she was being forcibly held.

"They should have gone to jail," the girl's mother, Patti Grove, told ABC 13. "I think they convince people to feel sorry for them."