Virginia police ordered a group of teenagers caroling outside an abortion clinic Saturday to stop singing and relocate because they were violating a local noise ordinance.
“The singing violates an ordinance,” an officer tells the group of peaceful carolers in a video of the confrontation posted to YouTube. “That’s just kind of where we are with the whole thing, alright?,” he added.
One of the teens involved, Estrella, told LifeSite News the group began caroling nearby the abortion clinic in an effort to “peacefully share the joy of Christmas” with the people who were working and going in and out of the clinic.
“We were standing on a public stretch of land, peacefully caroling,” she said. “It is wrong for the police officer to tell us to leave. We were not doing anything wrong, and simply because they did not like what we were doing they told us to leave.”
The ordinance in question describes singing as a potential noise disturbance that is prohibited.
“It shall be unlawful for any person to yell, shout, talk loudly, whistle or sing on any public street or private property in the city at anytime, so as to cause a noise disturbance,” the ordinance says, according to LifeSite News.
Another teen, Ryan Orr, told LifeSite News the point of the singing was not to protest abortion. “Unlike picketing (with signs), the main idea was not to protest the facility,” he said. “We were singing in front of the abortion mill to extend a message of joy, hope and encouragement to the young ladies who were unfortunate enough to find themselves struggling in that situation.”
One of the teens’ mothers contacted the conservative Christian non-profit Alliance Defending Freedom, which has agreed to take up the teens’ case on religious liberty and free speech grounds. “We feel that our First Amendment rights have been violated and plan to contest this injustice,” she told LifeSite News.
At least two of the teens plan to return to that spot with other pro-life advocates and continue caroling. D.C. pastor and Christian Defense Coalition Director Patrick Mahoney setup a Facebook event to spread the word about a return to the clinic for caroling Wednesday.
“It was stunning to see a law enforcement official forbid citizens from singing Christmas Carols in public during the Christmas Season!,” he said in a post describing the event. “It clearly violated the First Amendment and especially targeted the public witness of pro-life activists.”
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