VIDEO: Cops cuff vandal for throwing paint on pro-life display
Portland State University’s pro-life club has faced repeated harassment from student protesters, most recently with the vandalism of an on-campus display.
Video footage obtained by Campus Reform shows an unidentified student wearing a nylon stocking over his head being handcuffed and led away by two police officers after throwing a bucket of paint at the pro-life demonstrators and their display while fellow protesters cheered him on.
The massive display, adorned with a banner proclaiming that “abortion is genocide,” will apparently remain on campus throughout the week, but continues to draw backlash from counter-protesters, some of whom have called for the abortion of “Christians” while others have set up a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood in front of the display.
Some students even penned an open letter to the campus community, published in the school’s newspaper, suggesting that the word genocide is “triggering, oppressive, and inappropriate.”
[RELATED: Masked, club-wielding assailant attacks OU pro-life display]
“Many feel that this statement is hurtful and offensive to individuals who do decide to go through this difficult medical procedure,” the letter states. “We believe that the sign created by this student group, and endorsed by the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Programs, creates a sense of shame and pain for our diverse community of learners.”
In anticipation of this week’s demonstration, PSU Pro-Life posted an advertisement for a discussion set to kick-off the demonstration, but the advertisements were likewise vandalized.
The poster, which was eventually ripped in half, was initially covered up with another sign declaring that “unequal access to healthcare is genocide,” while on another bulletin board the school’s student government issued a condemnation of the pro-life rhetoric.
“Your student government supports your right to choose and is against the appropriation of the word ‘genocide,’” the Associated Students of Portland State University posted on its on-campus bulletin board.
In response to the advertisement, the Portland State International Socialist Organization organized an “anti-choice counter protest,” saying the “right violently targets women in its effort to destroy all access to abortion,” and asking students to counter “this sexist and racist claim.”
[RELATED: CSUSM warns students about ‘graphic anti-abortion display’]
The university, however, has continued to stand by the pro-life club’s right to demonstrate on campus, calling for “peaceful protests and counter protests.”
“A registered student organization, PSU Pro Life, is staging a demonstration in the Park Blocks this week protesting abortion,” a statement from the university says. “The group has a First Amendment right to free speech. Individuals and groups who object to the demonstration have the same right to protest and communicate their objections.”
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