The risks pro-life advocates take these days when they head to the streets and tell others that abortion is wrong are numerous and dire.
In this roundup, we’ll be taking a look at how some of them were physically attacked over their convictions.
‘She just absolutely glared at me. She grabbed me by both of my shoulders and … pitched me across the sidewalk. I landed on my left side and my left arm and my head.’
But physical attacks are only a part of what pro-life advocates face. Leftists who bully, intimidate, and harass them can make the prospect of protesting on behalf of the unborn downright scary, too.
Readers of Blaze News likely haven’t forgotten the outrageous behavior of then-Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims, a leftist who posted video of himself harassing an “old white lady” saying the rosary near a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood in 2019.
Brian K. SimsImage source: Pennsylvania House of Representatives, archives
That ain’t the half of it. Sims also offered $100 for the identities of young women praying in front of the same abortion facility. The mother of the teen girls soon told Tucker Carlson that Sims “came in hot … yelling” at them and that she had to intervene. In the end, Sims’ bullying sparked a pro-life rally in front of the Planned Parenthood featuring speakers such as Matt Walsh, Live Action president and founder Lila Rose, and iconic pro-life leader Abby Johnson.
Oh, and does anyone remember the assistant principal from a Pennsylvania high school who resigned after he was caught on video in April 2017 screaming and cursing at teenage pro-life advocates on a public sidewalk in front of the school? Check out the still-startling video here.
Zach Ruff, then dean of academics and student life at the STEM Academy in Downingtown, pointed at a sign one of the teen activists was holding that showed a photo of an aborted fetus and told the teen, “You can go to hell, where they are, too.”
When the teen suggested that Ruff turn to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of his sins, Ruff stood inches from the teen’s face and issued a scorching rebuttal: “Listen here, son, all right? I’m as gay as the day is long and twice as sunny. I don’t give a f**k what you think Jesus tells me and what I should and should not be doing.”
The teens received a settlement that summer acknowledging that they had every right to be on that sidewalk. In a December 2017 article by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ruff told the paper he takes several medications, sees a therapist twice weekly, and rarely leaves the house without his husband.
Then you have alleged intimidation courtesy of the FBI and by the likes of Jane’s Revenge. How about an outspoken Democrat elected official who issued “literally a call to arms” against the pro-life movement?
If that isn’t enough to contend with, let’s now take a look at some of what has happened when leftists got physical with pro-lifers.
Elderly pro-lifer beaten to a pulp in vicious, unprovoked attack outside Planned Parenthood; another elderly pro-lifer knocked out cold in same attack, witness says
Pro-life advocate Mark Crosby, 73, was severely beaten in a vicious, unprovoked attack outside a Planned Parenthood in Baltimore in May 2023, and a witness said a second pro-lifer, Dick Schafer, 80, was knocked out cold in the same attack.
Local pro-life advocate John Roswell told LifeSiteNews at the time that Crosby’s “plate bone in his upper right cheek is completely fractured” and that he “is bleeding from some unidentified area behind his eye, and the bone eye orbit is completely shattered and will have to be replaced with metal.”
Police told WJZ-TV that video of attack on Crosby “shows the suspect strike [the victim] in the face with a closed fist as [the victim] is on his back on the ground. The suspect is then observed standing up and with extreme force, kicks [the victim] directly in the face.” You can view a video report here about the attack.
Soon police released surveillance images of the suspect as well as surveillance video of the brutal assault. In the summer of 2024, police arrested 27-year-old Patrick Brice in connection with the attack, WBAL-AM reported. The 6’5″ Brice was indicted on charges of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and assault on an elderly person 65 and over, according to the American Center for Law and Justice, which is representing the attack victims. ACLJ told Blaze News that the trial begins Wednesday.
65-year-old pro-life advocate saying rosary outside Planned Parenthood gets decked with punch to the face — by a male support person for abortion provider, who wallops elderly pro-lifer a second time
A 65-year-old pro-life advocate who was saying the rosary in October 2018 outside a Planned Parenthood in Florida was hospitalized after a man who had apparently accompanied a patient to the clinic came outside and decked him with a punch before delivering another blow.
A male exited the Planned Parenthood building and crossed the street to take photos of the group of about 10 protesters, Carol Gentile, one of the regular protesters, told the Naples News.
The male then approached Joe Alger — who was saying the rosary — and got close to the 65-year-old’s face and knocked him to the ground with a punch, Gentile added to the News, noting that the attacker followed that with a second punch.
Other witnesses corroborated Gentile’s account, the paper said, and noted that the attacker used obscene language and gestures. A sheriff’s deputy later escorted a man fitting witnesses’ description of the attacker from the North Naples clinic into the back seat of a patrol car, the News reported, adding that he wasn’t in handcuffs and there were no arrests.
Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Sarah Scully told the News that “a fight broke out between a trespassed protester and a patient’s support person.” Paul Van Valkenburg, a volunteer escort with Planned Parenthood, added to the paper that the punching victim earlier had trespassed on Planned Parenthood property and the sheriff’s office was initially called — and then called a second time in response to the attack.
Grand jury refuses to indict 32-year-old female charged with assaulting 82-year-old pro-life woman outside abortion clinic; Black Lives Matter accuses victim — whose leg was broken and required surgery — of ‘violence … in the name of Christianity’
A grand jury refused to indict a female charged with assaulting an 82-year-old pro-life woman outside Kentucky’s only remaining abortion clinic, the Courier Journal said in a June 2019 report.
Janaya Alyce Gregory, 32, was charged with second-degree felony assault after surveillance video showed her approaching Donna Durning outside EMW Women’s Surgical Center on April 12 and allegedly pushing her to the sidewalk. Durning was hospitalized with a broken leg that required surgery and rehabilitation. You can view surveillance video here of the incident.
Durning told the paper that “she just absolutely glared at me. She grabbed me by both of my shoulders and … pitched me across the sidewalk. I landed on my left side and my left arm and my head.”
Gregory pleaded not guilty and was released on her own recognizance, the Courier Journal said. Following the grand jury’s decision, Black Lives Matter Louisville issued a Facebook post accusing During of “violence … in the name of Christianity” toward those “seeking services for their reproductive health.”
Pierced-out shaggy creep actually kicks pro-life woman recording video of him at silent protest
A pierced-out, shaggy male was caught on video kicking a pro-life woman during a silent protest on a Toronto street corner on Sept. 30, 2018, before running away when authorities were contacted, the victim wrote in an account for LifeSite.
Marie-Claire Bissonnette, a youth coordinator for Campaign Life Coalition in Toronto, said she began recording her attacker on her cell phone after he committed acts of vandalism against other pro-life advocates. You can view video here of the incident.
Jordan Hunt, 26, soon surrendered to police. He faced eight counts of assault and seven counts of mischief under $5,000, the Toronto Sun reported. Hunt also was charged with one count of assault in connection with an incident that occurred a month earlier, the paper said, but Constable David Hopkinson couldn’t confirm whether it was related to a second video that surfaced showing a shirtless male harassing anti-abortion protesters. The male in that second video said, “Yeah, I tried to knock your stupid billboard to the side” and “if you don’t want me to f**k with your stuff, why are you trying to f**k with other people’s choices?”
Also, a Toronto hair salon fired Hunt and identified him as the attacker in the Sept. 30 video. “It has been brought to our attention that Jordan Hunt has been caught on camera assaulting an innocent bystander at a pro-life rally. We don’t condone his actions, and he has been let go,” Noble Studio 101 noted in an Instagram post. “We believe that everyone has a right to an opinion and the right to voice their opinion without fear of physical violence.”
Hunt was given eight months’ probation and a conditional discharge ordering him to stay 100 meters from any pro-life demonstration, not contact his victims, and attend counseling, according to a June 2019 Live Action report.
‘Oh, are you crying, little girl?’ Thuggish female physically attacks pro-life advocate — and the ill-advised outburst comes back to haunt suspect
Just one day after a shaggy male kicked a pro-life woman at a silent protest in Toronto — as described in the above story — another pro-life woman was physically attacked in the city.
Those who recorded video of the attack told Global News that it occurred near Ryerson University on Oct. 1, 2018. The attacker first knocked down signs, then shoved pro-life activist Katie Somers, Global News said, before apparently reaching into Somers’ backpack, pulling out an object, and smashing it on the ground.
The shoving continued, with the attacker doing a threatening “chest pound” as a crying Somers tried to get away. “C’mon, let’s do it!” the attacker was heard saying. No one appeared to make any meaningful attempt to intervene, but a presumably pro-abortion woman could be heard on video mocking Somers: “Oh, are you crying, little girl? Did we hurt your feelings? I think we hurt her feelings.”
The following year, Gabriela Skwarko, 23, admitted she was responsible for the attack and pleaded guilty, Global News reported in a separate story. The Crown and defense counsel recommended that Skwarko receive a conditional discharge and 18 months’ probation, and the judge said he would accept the recommendation, the outlet said, adding that Skwarko was suspended from Ryerson for one year and lost her job with the university.
‘Burn, little Jesus freaks! Burn, burn, burn!’ Anti-abortion group gets chilling death threats on voicemail after Molotov cocktail attack
A Wisconsin anti-abortion group received a series of chilling death threats on voicemail after a Molotov cocktail attack damaged its headquarters in May 2022. One of the messages came from a sinister character who sang “Burn, little Jesus freaks! Burn, burn, burn!“
Wisconsin Family Action was targeted after a Supreme Court decision draft overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked May 2. First came the Molotov cocktail attack, which resulted in fire damage; also a spray-painted message outside the offices read, “If abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t, either.”
Later death threats and other vile messages were left on WFA voicemail, CBN News reported. One male left a message saying that “you’re all going to burn … you’re following the f**king devil” and that “I hope you all burn … that’s what you deserve.” Another male declared that “whoever set that fire is a true American patriot. You people are just utter filth of the planet. And it’s too bad your whore mothers didn’t abort each and every last one of you. Hopefully, you all get cancer …”
Another guy sadistically sang, “Burn, little Jesus freaks! Burn, burn, burn!”
‘Hail Satan!’ Spitting, twerking, violent pro-abortion mob descends upon pro-life group at college
In late September 2019, TFP Student Action set up a small demonstration with brochures and bagpipes at George Washington University in the nation’s capital, and things soon got dicey.
TFP Student Action said pro-abortion advocates soon employed social media to organize like-minded folks to gather and confront its members, who were quickly and vastly outnumbered.
“Hail Satan!” one counter-demonstrator yelled, the pro-life group said, while a male student offered, “I eat baby lungs for breakfast!” Perhaps the most disturbing moment took place when an angry woman spit on a pro-lifer. What’s more, one TFP volunteer said he was kicked in the back of the leg, while another said students repeatedly hit his arm cast. At one point, the crowd converged around TFP Student Action, dancing and singing and flipping off the pro-life group.
You can see all the action on this video.
Muscular activist waving transgender flag slams into pro-life student marchers in front of cops; fails to get away unscathed
A noticeably muscular individual was caught on video waving a large transgender flag while running into students participating in the Virginia March for Life in February 2024. What’s more, video of the violent act shows police officers observing the whole thing.
The culprit — who wore a maroon camisole along with a light red bandana that covered the individual’s dark hair pulled back into a bun — was seen on the clip bounding through the middle of the march and purposely running into students, knocking them off balance, and ripping at one of their flags.
A later video shows authorities walking the march disrupter down a sidewalk in handcuffs. The New York Post reported that a 42-year-old transgender activist was arrested. The paper, citing Capitol Police, said Noah Cleveland was charged with one count of disorderly conduct.
Female who freaked out at pro-life advocates — and allegedly punched one who was recording video — is charged with assault
A female who freaked out at pro-life activists in front of an Alabama abortion clinic in May 2019 and allegedly punched one of them who was recording her was soon arrested.
Huntsville Police told Blaze News that Elizabeth Underwood, 28, turned herself in and was charged with third-degree assault. She was released on $1,000 bond, police said.
Mary Baggett, a sidewalk counselor, told Live Action she was recording video May 3 as she spoke to other pro-life activists in front of the Alabama Women’s Center in Huntsville. Soon motorists appeared to argue with the pro-life activists, and one driver — a woman — emerged from her vehicle and began walking toward the pro-life activists.
“The woman who came up to me punched my hands. I must have been holding the camera with both hands, ’cause one is bruised pretty bad, but the one hand I hold the phone with is hurting, too,” Baggett told Live Action. “Then she grabbed my phone and ran to her car. I went after her and demanded she give me the phone back, [and she] finally threw it in the grass.”
Pro-life advocates physically attacked outside yet another Planned Parenthood; police allegedly refused to press charges
According to the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, two Washington, D.C.-area pro-life advocates — Terrisa Bukovinac, founder and executive director of PAAU, and Michael Gribbin — were assaulted in July 2023 outside the D.C. Planned Parenthood.
Bukovinac said the incident began when a female approached her and threw coffee in her face and hair, adding that when Gribbin tried to grab the female’s coffee cup, her male partner assaulted him. Video shows the male throwing Gribbin to the street surface and repeatedly punching him; it also shows the female slapping Bukovinac in the face.
The PAAU said that despite video of the assault, D.C. police have refused to press charges.
“Even as a progressive anti-abortion atheist, I understand that the abortion industrial complex is responsible for a mass genocide which will require immense bravery to dismantle,” Bukovinac said. “Pro-lifers must be committed to total nonviolence to effectively challenge the institution of legal child-killing around the globe.”
The Daily Caller News Foundation, as part of its report, said D.C. police didn’t immediately respond to its request for comment on the matter.
Female assaults pro-lifer, vandalizes anti-abortion displays — then later laughs, brags to police while holding infant on her lap that she was called a ‘hero’
A female was caught on video in April 2019 assaulting a pro-life activist and vandalizing anti-abortion displays on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison — and then later sat in an interview with police with a baby on her lap and bragged that others “said that I’m a hero” for her premeditated actions.
Campus police told Blaze News that Sasha Timofeeva was cited for vandalism and disorderly conduct stemming from the incident. Pro-life group Created Equal said the attack was against one of their members.
“You just tried to grab my f**king spray-paint,” Timofeeva tells the pro-life activist in the video. “Are you going to tell the police that?”
“Because you’re spray-painting our property,” the activist replies. “Yeah, I’m going to tell them.”
Timofeeva was seen in another clip later that day with police while holding a baby in her lap and laughing and bragging that someone called her a “hero” during the incident. The officer, while noting that he “could take [her] to jail for this,” tells Timofeeva he’s issuing misdemeanor charges against her and that she’ll need to appear in court. Court records show Timofeeva was found guilty of assaultive behavior stemming from the incident.
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T3, Abortion, Pro-life, Pro-abortion, Pro-choice, Leftists, Violence against pro-life activists, Violence against pro-lifers, Intimidation, Molotov cocktail attack, Physical attacks, Politics
