A pro-life activist group has released a video that shows a man angrily assaulting them for their anti-abortion activities while declaring his actions were “non-violent,” and then being slapped with a criminal citation by police.
The incident occurred May 10, 2016 near Gahanna Lincoln High School in Columbus, Ohio. Ian Spencer and several other members of the anti-abortion group Created Equal Films planned to stand outside the high school showing images of aborted fetuses and attempt to engage in dialogue with students at the school (the group has made similar protests in the past). But a man saw the Created Equal team preparing for their effort and quickly became angry.
WATCH:
“Are you guys really that stupid?” the man asks as the video begins. “You wanna harass high school kids?”
“What do you mean-,” one of the group members replies, only to be cut off mid-sentence.
“No, stop! You wanna harass high school kids?” the man shouts.
“No, we’re here to show the truth,” the same group member says. The man then notices he is being videotaped by Spencer and attacks him in an effort to stop the recording.
“You will not film me, at all!” the man cries. “You don’t have my permission!”
“Please stop. This is violent, what are you doing?” Spencer says as the attack continues. (RELATED: Police Make Pro-Life Students Sweep Up Chalk Messages)
“This is not violent, you don’t have the right to film me!” the man says. In fact, Created Equal did have the right to do so, as Ohio law requires only single-party consent for video recordings and also freely allows to record events that occur in a public place such as a city street.
Created Equal proceeded to call the police, and the video skips ahead several minutes to show the officer’s response to events. The man and Spencer even argue over who should be allowed to talk to the police officer.
“We were the ones that called the police,” Spencer says.
“I don’t give a shit who you called. You’re an ass,” the man replies.
The video skips over most of the discussion with police, but at the end it shows the activists saying they would like to press charges against the man, indicating that police were unimpressed with the attacker’s defense of his actions.
Later that day, Created Equal said in a press release, the attacker was cited for a fourth degree disorderly conduct misdemeanor. (RELATED: Feminist Professor Sued After Attacking Pro-Life Display)
“It seems increasingly common for abortion advocates not only to dissent to our message but also to resort to violence,” Created Equal director Mark Harrington said in a statement. “We understand these kinds of attacks are inevitable. We will never be silenced by violence or threats of violence.”
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