Jesse Michael Boyd, a 46-year-old missionary who was carrying a cross and a flag 5,000 miles across the nation, was arrested in Montana after getting into a fistfight with an unhinged man who allegedly threatened to shoot him.

(Video Credit: WSOC-TV)

Boyd was with two of his children and two other missionaries, 27-year-old Eric Trent and 20-year-old Cater Phillips, when the altercation occurred in Cameron, Montana on November 12. They took off from North Carolina and were headed to the Pacific handing out a gospel-related book through Full Proof Gospel Ministries and had traversed 17 states before it came to an end in Big Sky Country, according to the Daily Mail.

A man named Bradley Terrell pulled up to the missionaries and allegedly started berating them over where they had parked their gray Subaru. Boyd apologized to the man and told him they were leaving. Terrell then got out of his car and reportedly flew into a rage at the missionary.

“At that point he just lit into a rage, cursing – my son was standing right there. I told them there wasn’t any need to act like that,” Boyd told WSOC-TV in an interview.

“He told us we weren’t welcomed in Montana,” Boyd told Channel 9’s Dan Faherty. “He told us there were rifles trained on us and if we moved, we’d be shot.”

At that point, Boyd evidently pulled out his gun in what he believed was self-defense. When Terrell looked like he had calmed down, Boyd put the gun away and Terrell allegedly attacked him, forcing him to the ground. Boyd’s daughter and the other missionaries stepped in at that point to stop Terrell from hurting Boyd. They allegedly hit Terrell with a flagpole several times, according to the New York Post.

Boyd, his daughter, and the two other missionaries were arrested for felony aggravated assault and placed under house arrest. They are being forced to wear ankle monitors. It is unknown whether Terrell was also arrested or charged.

Terrell told WSOC-TV he would release more information on the attack in the future.

“I’d love people to see the evidence,” Terrell asserted. “Stay with us, follow the case and follow the facts.”

After the missionary arrived back home on November 28, he claimed he was protecting his family when he was arrested. The holiday photo shows his family including one daughter with an ankle monitor.

“By God’s amazing and abundant grace, we are back together again, this time at home in North Carolina where it was 60-degrees when we pulled up at sunset,” Boyd wrote on social media. “I am a Bible-believing, God-fearing family man who loves his wife of 25 years and his children. I’m not a criminal or a felon. But, I will defend my family and my brethren in Christ when attacked. And, if I’m the only line of defense between a monster and my kids or an innocent person, I will defend myself and so defend them.”

“For these things, I make no apology. It is a man’s duty before God,” he declared.

Boyd took pictures along his journey, one showing his son carrying a flag that is upside down signifying that the nation is in danger. He fully intends to continue his pilgrimage soon all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

“At some point, I will take up that cross at the very same spot where this took place, and we’ll continue our journey as the Lord leads us to the Pacific Ocean,” he told Channel 9.

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