Was Louisiana pastor arrested for beating his threatening neighbor justified? Rick Burgess weighs in.

Last week, Louisiana church pastor Tony Spell, 48, was arrested and charged with battery after video captured him beating up a 20-year-old male neighbor he claims threatened to rape and kill his family.

According to reports, Spell claims he was working on a church bus when he heard his neighbor’s son yell, “Tony, I’m gonna rape your wife. I’m gonna rape all of your grandchildren. … The next time you go out of town, I’m gonna kill them, and what the F are you going to do about it?”

Spell defended his actions, calling himself the “natural protector” of his family, and claimed that the victim’s family had been harassing and intimidating them as well as church attendees for years — an allegation they denied.

The video of