Activist Clergy Supporters Arrested

Police on Sunday arrested 11 supporters of a labor activist clergy group who had been warned to stay away from services at a Lutheran church in suburban Pittsburgh.

Police seized the supporters outside Nativity Lutheran Church and charged them with one count each of defiant trespass. Later, the six arrested women were released on their own recognizance, and the five men were freed after posting bonds ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 apiece.

All 11 were to be arraigned Sunday. They support the Denominational Ministry Strategy, which has gained national attention for its confrontational tactics to focus on the plight of the unemployed.

Among those seized was Ann Solberg, wife of Nativity Lutheran’s ousted pastor, the Rev. Daniel Solberg, 34, who was arrested last week inside the church after he refused to step down from his post.

Also arrested was Ronald Weisen, a key member of the labor activist group, the Network to Save the Mon-Ohio Valley.

Court officials told Solberg, 34, brother of actor David Soul, that he would be released if he agreed to stay away from his former parish, but he refused.