Birmingham (Alabama) Police Drags, Hauls, Cuffs and Shackles Pro-Life Protesters

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According to a Life Site News article, Young pro-lifers were standing on the pavement with posters and leaflets. Before, they made sure everything was legal.


Police arrived and started dragging them to squad cars, including twisting the arms of female protesters from behind.


They hand-cuffed an 18 year old female so tight she cried from pain, it is said.

They locked them in cells for 6 hours without water or access to telephone.

Shackles on ankles were employed.

Some of the jail guards were working as security guards at an abortion clinic.

Charges on paper did not include reference to a penal statute. It was only, "charge of trespassing."

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09021610.html


It looks like distraught consciences are flying a large hit-back at whomever upsets the delicate peace of mind of the populace supporting abortion. Nothing in the activity of the protesters was criminal and yet the reaction employed was characteristic of how people react to serious public crimes. Why this? Because of the very, very upsetting feeling that they caused. Because they caused remourse and made people question their views. The so called hate speech laws emerging world-wide are trying to make that kind of protest a real crime. Fine to preach "progress", not fine to preach life. Those who dare suggest there's something wrong with the liberal (morally) paradigm will be prosecuted.

In this case, however, it was a pure emotional backlash. I chose to bring this article to your attention because it shows the pro-choice reaction in its nude form. The stark contrast between the police's public charge and its members' purely a-legal (i.e. not so much illegal as acting as if no laws existed in the first place) actions.

 

Haha, you are hilarious Chevy. Looks to me like standard police operating procedure when dealing with protestors. Do not see you spout your outrage when it is some little anarchist girl being beat up and locked away. The only difference here is that from my point of view this was a good thing because it is only fair if the police beat up some right wing people now and then as well just to keep somekind of semblence of a balance, oh and of course to piss off the anti-choice people thats always a good thing.

 

I doubt the excessive force, if there was any was motivated by their political stance. I say "if there was any" because for all I know it may be that the pro-life demonstrators decided to play the victim for extra sympathy or to rally their supporters against a perceived injustice. I doubt most cops, and Alabama ones in particular (I believe the state is quite conservative) really care that much about abortion rights; rather, I expect that from the clinic simply called the cops and the demonstration wasn't quite as legal as the attorney of the protesters thought. I'm not really clear on Alabama criminal and civil law (hey, half of SP's posters aren't lawyers) but I can definitely imagine demonstrators being disruptive or in some way breaching law X or statute Y. Actually, having seen some photos of what pro-life demonstrators sometimes do, I'm surprised that nights in jail are not more common.

Of course, if the police did use excessive force or otherwise acted unlawfully, they should be held responsible. It's only fair. Yet that has to be proven, not alleged in an online journal.

 

Yeah, welcome to how law enforcement is typically done in the South. Generally, most everyone is treated that way here if you end on the bad side of a few cops, especially if they are having a bad day. Most of them here are just bullies. People have complained about them for years, for all the good it has done.

 

Yet another reason why you should only protest in places that are used to them (San Francisco, Berkely, New York, Boston, etc.) as the police are used to them and they know that most protestors are trying to make a scene to get on televison (or at least Youtube). Because of this they are trained much better to not give the protestors what they want.

 

o.0 Pro-lifers arrested in Alabama? Seems odd to me... is Alabama a conservative state that is pro-choice? Or just Birmingham? (That seems ridiculous, considering its history).

 

Life Site News Article? Please. Have you checked a Birmingham paper to look at both sides?

Six hours in a holding tank without a phone -- total outrage! Civil rights have been violated!

A protester cried from the pain when handcuffed? Seriously, they are trained to do just that -- it's more dramatic for the camaras.

Just what does the "jail guards employed as security guards" have to do with anything other than muckraking here?

The group was not from town, they came into town and started harrassing children. What's not to like about the Birmingham police in this incident? I disagree with your assessment -- this was not a pro-choice/pro-life issue at all. This was about a disturbance at a school; the police responded quickly and in-force to ensure the safety of the kids. The protesters were given a chance to disperse -- you don't get second chances in America anymore around schools.

 

That's a really good point.

 

Is there an article about that from a more neutral source, btw?

 

I couldn't find anything about it on the birmingham news sites only on pro-life or religious sites. I'm not trying to say it didn't happen just that i can't find any independant verification.

 

I tend to dislike protestors of any stripe. If they were strictly following the law then the police officers involved should be disciplined. But like as not when they got to their destination they got out of line. Once they start being defiant, belligerant, or disrespectful to the police officers, I say they need to be dealt with harshly.

Bear in mind that I'm pro-life. But people like this give the position a bad name.