SectionsPro-life display vandalized
Lindsay VanQuaethem
Issue date: 10/7/08 Section: News
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The graveyard, located between North Mall and Blair Shannon, was a part of Wednesday's pro-life demonstration and was made up of 4,000 crosses symbolizing the number of babies that are aborted each day.
Daniel Dias, a field representative for Bears for Life, said he was the first on the scene as individuals were damaging the graveyard.
"At first I saw the people, and I thought they were just walking around without hurting anything," Dias said. "Then I saw someone lay down on the crosses, and then I heard cheering, so I ran over."
Gleeson said the people vandalizing their crosses continued to be destructive even after the Bears for Life walked up.
"Every time we asked why they were doing this they kept saying they were on school property so they were allowed to walk there," he said.
Dias said there was a pro-choice demonstration going on that day as well, with members of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Bisexual Gay and Lesbian Alliance, and he said he believed they might have been involved.
"We believe they may have been from BIGALA, because after walking on our crosses, they walked back to the cakewalk," he said. "All of a sudden, another guy from the BIGALA event rode his bike over the graveyard about three or four times."
Gleeson also said he recognized one of the girls stepping on the crosses as a protestor at FSM's event on Friday afternoon.
"We approached her and asked her why she did it and if she was affiliated with FSM," he said. "She would not give us any straight answers, but she did say she supports FSM and their stance."
BIGALA and FSM both said that their organizations did not plan a protest to vandalize the Bears for Life's property.
Stephanie Perkins, co-president for BIGALA said she was at the cakewalk and had no idea of the vandalizing until after the damage had already been done.
"After I found out, I made and announcement to everyone to stop and respect everyone's stance and everyone's property," she said.
Perkins said if anyone from BIGALA acted out in this way, they were doing it as individuals and not to represent the beliefs of BIGALA.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 28
JT Eberhard
posted 10/07/08 @ 12:24 AM CST
The notion that the Church of the FSM had anything to do with vandalizing their display is absurd. It is based on no evidence, and it is a meritless attempt to demonize the group. (Continued…)
Carly Wilburn
posted 10/07/08 @ 12:29 AM CST
I want to make it as clear as I can that the Abortion Prevention rally, the "protest" against the Bears For Life on Wednesday afternoon, was not at all an FSM event. (Continued…)
Sarah
posted 10/07/08 @ 1:02 AM CST
"number of babies that are aborted each day"
How about...FETUSES? FETUS. FETUS. FETUS. It is not a baby if you're going to be professional and scientific about it. (Continued…)
Charles O'Connell
Charles O'Connell
posted 10/07/08 @ 3:53 AM CST
Statistics from Finland are considered particularly reliable because there is no stigma there against abortion and statistics are rigorously collected. (Continued…)
JT Eberhard
posted 10/07/08 @ 8:07 AM CST
A few things on this...
1. Correlation does not equal causation. This is basic data-gathering knowledge, but it is precisely what this clip implies. (Continued…)
Julianne
Julianne
posted 10/07/08 @ 12:46 PM CST
I am very disappointed that people at this age would do something so childish as to destroy a group's display. Protesting the display, as other groups did, by offering other information is great but what those individuals did, at night no less, was just plain cowardly. (Continued…)
Jen
posted 10/07/08 @ 5:33 PM CST
I LOOOOVE that a completely misinformed** "pro-life" display being messed with becomes a headline in the Standard and is deemed 'vandalism' and 'childish,' but when people began erasing the outlines of our fallen soldiers (symbolic of the body count of Actual Living Human Beings) which were not even made in protest but in memoriam, not a peep was made. (Continued…)
I've got my facts straight
posted 10/07/08 @ 5:53 PM CST
If it's not a baby, you're not pregnant. "Blastocysts, embryos and fetuses" still make you pregnant with a BABY.
Brett Leeper
posted 10/07/08 @ 9:15 PM CST
Ignoring WHO did what, I was wondering about the fact that BFL was attempting to keep an installation indefinitely , or did they actually have a permit to leave signs and such up for a set period of time? I fail to see how they have any recourse for disruption of their materials they left out unless it happened while they were having their event, or during the duration of their permit. (Continued…)
David
posted 10/08/08 @ 8:28 AM CST
This is disgusting, and quite frankly I'm saddened that supposedly "educated" college students - heck, that "educated" people in society in general - still haven't learned that this kind of propaganda act is a sword that cuts the wielder deeper than the intended victim. (Continued…)
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