An Arizona Christian preacher is taking Tucson to federal court after police allegedly threatened to arrest him for sharing his faith at a public Christmas festival. David Hoffman’s lawsuit challenges restrictions enforced during the December 2025 Winterhaven Festival of Lights. His attorneys say officers ordered him out for discussing Jesus with attendees. He is seeking protection against the same restrictions before returning for this year’s event.
The annual festival takes place in Tucson’s Winterhaven neighborhood, where visitors walk along public streets to enjoy residents’ holiday displays. Admission is free, and attendees don’t need tickets. Hoffman and friends visited on December 13th, 2025, intending to discuss their Christian beliefs with willing listeners and distribute religious literature, according to First Liberty Institute’s account of the encounter.
Hoffman had attended the festival for approximately a decade, the New York Post reported. His ministry involves approaching people at public gatherings, including those unlikely to attend church. But during last December’s event, he said officers told him he could remain to view the lights while prohibiting his religious outreach.
Tucson told the outlet’s originating source, Fox News Digital, that it doesn’t comment on pending litigation. The federal complaint, filed October 2nd, 2026, names Tucson and police officers Matt Alexander and William Leonard as defendants. It describes Hoffman asking whether officers objected to his volume when they interrupted his preaching. According to the filing, Leonard responded, “it’s the communicating, it’s the sending of your message, which is one of the prohibited rules.” Hoffman asked whether he could invite someone to discuss Jesus.
Leonard rejected that proposed conversation as sermonizing, according to the lawsuit. Hoffman also asked what he could do if another person approached him seeking spiritual guidance, and the officer directed him outside the event. Four uniformed officers subsequently escorted Hoffman away. When Hoffman asked whether preaching as he walked out would result in arrest, Leonard answered affirmatively, the complaint alleges.
Officers directed the group to a barricaded area outside the festival near Fort Lowell Road, First Liberty said in its announcement. The organization sent Tucson a demand letter in December 2025 challenging the restrictions. First Liberty, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and Holtzman Vogel PLLC represent Hoffman in the lawsuit. Senior counsel Nate Kellum said, “Censoring a Christian message during a public Christmas event is malicious, unconstitutional, and absurd.”
Watch the police encounter with Hoffman here:
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Hoffman’s attorneys filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on October 8th, 2026. They argue that the restrictions cover religious conversations throughout the festival, regardless of available space or how a speaker addresses listeners. They also challenge the treatment of religious outreach while vendors and performers operate inside the event. The motion invokes federal free speech and religious exercise protections, along with Arizona’s religious freedom law.
The request for immediate relief asks the court to prevent enforcement while the lawsuit proceeds, allowing Hoffman to return without facing the same threatened consequences. His attorneys argue that losing the opportunity to exercise First Amendment rights constitutes an injury that cannot be adequately remedied afterward. The complaint separately seeks a declaration against the challenged policy, permanent protection for future festivals, nominal damages, and attorney’s fees.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.