Liberal students disrupted a pro-life rally at Virginia Commonwealth University by hurling obscenities and even hurling attacks, wounding a member of the pro-life club.
The protestors disrupted Kristen Hawkins and Isabel Brown’s speech at the campus as part of their Lies Pro-Choicers Believe tour.
Videos
Recordings from the event show demonstrators yelling “f**k pro-lifers” and “Nazis, go home” as two ladies stood behind podiums, ready to speak.
Hawkins turned to Twitter to voice her displeasure with the institution for permitting the issue to grow and impeding free expression. She further alleged that the demonstrators attacked her and her companions.
We came to @VCU, a public university to speak about abortion and we were assaulted. VCU you should be ashamed of yourselves for allowing this and shutting down any freedom of thought or speech at your university. pic.twitter.com/UCp4LpHNmS
— Kristan Hawkins (@KristanHawkins) March 29, 2023
In a video uploaded by the organization Students for Life, Hawkins contacted school security, who did not act as the demonstrators continued to yell insults. Autumn Higashi, the president of the Students for Life chapter, was harmed, as alleged by Brown.
Eventually, two members of the pro-life group’s security and local law enforcement arrived and evacuated the room of demonstrators.
Students said, “You go first!” While the protesters continued to chant, school administrators removed Hawkins, Brown, and other pro-life advocates from the room.
During the event, Brown stated on Twitter they were brought inside a secured area for almost two hours for their protection, while aggressive demonstrators were allowed to move freely.
She stated that questions were solicited from both pro-life and pro-choice students to foster discourse.
Antifa
Hawkins and Brown anticipated the room would be filled with demonstrators, but they welcomed the resistance. Brown stated they allowed the protestors to ask questions first, but the demonstrators firmly declined.
Yes, there is a lot of evil & a lot of progress to be made, but I am so grateful to the pro-life AND pro-choice students who walked into the locked side room to continue a civil discussion on the topic of abortion.
Although… Antifa protesting us is a whole other compliment 😋 pic.twitter.com/QIc5InjyKf
— Kristan Hawkins (@KristanHawkins) March 31, 2023
Two non-school-affiliated individuals were detained at the event. Anthony Marvin and Natalie Hoskins III were given charges of assault and disorderly behavior, respectively.
Several of the demonstrators were recognized as Antifa by Students for Life, based on their signs and attire. Kristopher Goad, who has links to Antifa, distributed a flier directing students to a ‘counter-protest.’
Nevertheless, Goad denied organizing the event and claimed to be covering it as a local journalist.
Students for Life requested the university permit the ladies to return to campus to deliver their remarks; although it is questionable whether the institution would grant this request.
This article appeared in NewsHouse and has been published here with permission.
