The pastor of the Church of God Restoration in the RM of Hanover referred to a group of COVID-19 enforcement officers as “Gestapo-style visitors” on Wednesday shortly after they came to his home to issue him another ticket for breaching emergency public health orders.

Tobias Tissen is a Minister at Church of God Restoration near Steinbach (photo credit Tobias Tissen/Facebook).Tobias Tissen posted the comment to Facebook along with a video that showed two Steinbach RCMP officers and two others at his door handing him his ticket. One of the individuals, who identified himself as a member of the justice department in the video, explained that this specific fine was being doled out because of Tissen’s participation in a Christmas caroling event at the Manitoba Legislative Building on December 20th where the gathering size exceeded those permitted under the present pandemic restrictions. Tissen is one of roughly a dozen people who have been fined for this specific event.

“You will answer to God for that,” Tissen called after the officers as they left his doorstep.

The $1,296 fine is one of several Tissen has received since the province entered the critical red level of the Pandemic Response System. The other tickets have been related to his involvement in an anti-mask rally and multiple church services that took place in November. 

In December, the provincial government went back on their decision to prohibit drive-in church services and is presently allowing such religious gatherings to continue providing participants remain in their vehicles at all times and that each vehicle only contains people from the same household.

“I want all of you who are following my story and supporting me to know that I am not discouraged by my fines,” stated Tissen in a second video, posted later on Wednesday. “There are not going to be enough fines out there to stop me from worshiping God.”

Tissen persists that the present public health orders defy religious freedoms and calls the matter "spiritual warfare".