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I was almost arrested for assaulting a woman today.
I arrived at the medical plaza at 7AM this (Saturday) morning to do some drywall work in the off hours. I had a key and the alarm code for the office to get in.
There was a group of abortion protesters from a local Christian pregnancy and adoption clinic on the sidewalk with some typical signs "God is Right, Abortion is Wrong" kinds of stuff. They were yelling at people as they drove into the parking lot "YOU"RE GOING TO REGRET GETTING AN ABORTION!" "DON'T KILL YOUR BABY!". I don't go for that approach myself, but I also don't begrudge them their zeal and guts and dedication. I drove to the fourth floor of the parking garage and looked down. I saw a Hispanic couple who was sitting on a bench in front of the plaza waiting for it to open. They went over to the protesters take some literature and went back to a little park bench in front of the clinic. I took some tools in to the job and looked down again... they were obviously in a conversation.
I got in my truck and drove down to the curb and got out. I walked up to the couple and asked "Se habla English?" The woman said, "No." Her boyfriend said "No mucho." I said, "Yo tengo un pocito de Espanol" (I have a little Spanish). I pulled out my wallet and showed her a picture of two kids. "Son mis ninos...These are my kids". ... "Sus madre no es mi esposa, es una otra mujer", their mother is not my wife, it is another woman". She looked puzzled. I said, "No abortion, estan mis ninos ahora...adoption..." "No abortion, they are my kids now, adoption". Her boyfriend got it and started talking to her. I got a little of what he said. I said, "Son muchas personas que quieren ninos...., there are a lot of people who want children." I poked her side with my finger and said, "Tiene un bebe aqui... no abortion, adoption por favor, sabe?... You have a baby here, please, no abortion, adoption, understand?" She looked at me and said "Si, gracias." I folded up my wallet and said "Gracias, adios," and drove back up to the fourth floor and went to work.
An hour later I heard someone in the office. "Anyone working here?" I looked up and it was two police officers. They asked me for my name, who I was working for etc. I said, "Did I trip the alarm... I have the code and keys to the office...."
"No," they said, "Did you talk to a couple downstairs?" I said yes. "What about?"
"I showed them pictures of my adopted kids and talked to them about adoption instead of abortion."
"Did you touch the woman?"
"Yes, I touched her and said you have a baby there."
"Do you know those people down there?" (Meaning the protesters).
"No, I'm not part of that group, I don't know them."
"Then why did you do that?"
"I don't know. I've never done that before. I just saw them take literature from them and they were obviously talking about it, so I went down and told them adoption was an option."
"The doctor wants you arrested for interfering with her practice, trespassing and assault on her client. You DID touch her."
"Oh. I'm sure she's upset."
"Well, you're not trespassing because you are working here, but you know we could arrest you and take you away for assault. That's what she wants."
"I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. I guess it was a bad move, huh?"
"Yeah, very bad.... how long will it take you to finish your job and get out of here?"
"Two hours tops."
"Then finish and leave. DO NOT talk to anyone, stop, or even look at anyone. And if we ever see you here again you'll be arrested. What's your boss' number, we'll have to call him...and what's your number in case the doctor wants to press charges. And by the way, your friends on the sidewalk are gone, they didn't have a permit to be out there."
"OK. Thanks for letting me finish. I'll be done as quick as I can."
So I've inadvertently joined the ranks of abortion protesters. I'll never know on this side of eternity if the couple followed through with their "Family Planning" or went to the Free Clinic.
It cost me a contract to show my kids' pictures to some strangers who were thinking about killing their baby. If she presses charges, there's worse things I could have a police record for, I guess. In the end, it isn't a bad trade off.
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11 comments:
It annoys the living daylights out of me that I can be arrested for something as silly as trying to comfort a child, or protect a strange child from getting run over by a car, but if a gym teacher mocks my kid in front of the entire class, that's OK, because the teacher is part of the Establishment.
And if you did get arrested for assault, you'd probably never be able to locate that couple to help defend you. Come to think of it, don't you think a Hispanic guy would have cut your hand off if you actually *had* assaulted his wife?!?!
LOL! Yeah, he was bigger than me and half my age.
s-p
Um, how can the doctor press assault charges against you? She's not the "victim," and the "victim" isn't there to accuse you . . . how does that work?
I thought about that too. If the "victim" doesn't press charges, usually the "state" won't pursue it. This isn't about injury to the woman, its about losing a client.
You were very thoughtful in the way you approached this couple. You have provided a good example. Thank you for having the humility to relate this story publicly.
If the abortionist pursues this somehow, I would like for you to contact me so that I can help you find legal representation. That is, if you need help. My email address can be found at my blog.
I'm not sure that I caught the whole gist of what happened. If the abortionist is interfering with your livelihood, you might want to talk to a lawyer.
Please don't allow yourself to be bullied.
All the best,
Jason Kranzusch
Thank you Jason. I told the general contractor what happened and that he might be getting a call from the police. I got a call today from him, and he said the building's property manager called him. The abortionist filed a complaint with the PM and they were going over the surveillance video tape to see if I did anything they can use to press charges. He will keep me posted and I will keep the bloggers posted.
Just think of all of the people you'll be able to witness to from jail! lol
Really, this is outage! I wouldn't put it past the doctors or the cops to place a couple there to 'pretend to be getting an abortion', just so they can arrest the protestors.
--Kirk
Hi Kirk,
I've always thought I'd like to do a prison ministry! The protesters were VERY aware of the boundaries. They never touched the asphalt of the driveway. Since I wasn't part of their group and had legitimate work in the building I was free to talk to anyone on the grounds, so I wasn't trespassing. Given the tension and legal issues with abortion protests I am sure that no protesters would fall for such "bait" and set foot on the property. IMO The doctor has a tough case to prosecute with my situation since I was not part of the protest group.
Wow, what a gutsy thing to do. And so you get threatened with criminal charges by the woman who is enraged to find out that she doesn't get to terminate one nascent human life that she had scheduled?
Boy, I would so give my lunch money to your legal fund. You're a rock star.
"do not talk to anyone, stop, or even look at anyone" !?!? Where are we? Communist Russia, Nazi Germany, North Korea, ...United States?
I've heard that the "legalities" (what we mean by that is politics) of protesting abortion clinics is quite a hot issue. Technically since I was NOT an "abortion protester" with "that group on the sidewalk" but a private citizen with a legal reason to be on the property, I suppose I COULD have looked, stopped and talked to ANYONE about ANYTHING legally... except abortion. It would make an interesting Supreme Court case, dontcha think?
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