NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – A 20-year-old street preacher has filed a federal lawsuit against city police, claiming they tried to halt him from spreading the word of God outside of bars and popular nightspots.

In court papers, Jesse Morrell says he has a constitutional right to recite Bible verses, sing hymns and pray on the sidewalks outside of bars. The lawsuit accuses police of violating his right to free speech and due process.

“The Bible is the true map to heaven and I want people to know that simple truth,” Morrell, originally from Cheshire, said.

The lawsuit contends that he was threatened with arrest last year while preaching outside of four nightclubs. According to the lawsuit, he was reading his bible outside of a Temple street pub last May and an officer threatened to arrest him.

He picked up his stool and left that bar, the lawsuit said.

But when he went to sit a few doors down at Neat Lounge, he was approached by a second officer in an aggressive manner and was told to stop preaching, Morrell claims. He tried to tape record the conversation, but the officer damaged the recorder and threw it in a trash can, the lawsuit said.

Subsequent attempts to preach at Alchemy Club and Cafe and The Back Room at Bottega the same night were also foiled by police, the lawsuit said.

Bonnie Winchester, a spokeswoman for New Haven police, said she could not comment because it is department policy not to talk about ongoing lawsuits.

“There’s no doubt if everyone agreed with what he had to say, no one would have bothered him,” said Nate Ketchum, a staff lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based Christian law firm that is representing him.

Morrell, who said he found God while spending time at a Hamden drug rehabilitation center, is currently studying at Teen Mania Ministries, a Texas-based Christian youth group. He’s also looking for a publisher for a book he has written called “Cleansing the Temple.” He said he wants to return to Connecticut to continue preaching.