Police arrest homeless 'Jesus' for accepting donations

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Last Friday Philadelphia residents and tourists saw quite the sight: police officers arresting a homeless man dressed as Jesus. The man's crime, according to police, was related to his acceptance of donations.

The homeless man, Michael Grant, was allowed to accept donations, but he had decided to give the tourists something for their donations: a picture with him.

Grant never harassed any passersby, but numerous tourists found the idea of "taking a picture with Jesus" to be humorous, and so a number of them were seen donating and snapping pictures with him. Philly police took issue with that and slapped the cuffs on Grant.

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Grant has become something of a well-known personality on the streets of Philadelphia. Known to locals as "Philly Jesus," he has become something akin to numerous homeless people well known in New York City's Times Square for their attention-getting outfits.

Grant made it clear to officers that he doesn't charge for photos but he does accept donations. He said he dresses as Jesus as a "testimony" to Christianity helping him overcome drug addition. He makes it clear that he does not consider himself to be "Jesus" but he nevertheless "tries to live like Christ."

"I considered myself completely healed and cured when I surrendered my heart to Jesus Christ," Grant said in an interview with the local NBC affiliate.

Thought it may come as a surprise, Grant has a Twitter account, and he tweeted about the arrest as soon as he was released from police custody.

Using the hashtag #FreePhillyJesus, Grant let his supporters know that he had been charged with the overly-general charge of "disorderly conduct" and "failure to disperse charges."

"I'm going to fight this," Grant said.