Violent demonstrators prevent a lifeguard from appearing at a US university

1 hour ago in Prolife, no reader opinion
Print view | send article | Report typo

The lifeguards of the Students for Life of America criticize the university management and the police. They would have done too little to secure the event.

Washington D.C. (kath.net/LifeNews/jg)
Violent protesters prevented a lifeguard from appearing at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia, injuring three people.

Kristan Hawkins, president of the life-saving organization Students for Life of America (SFLA), was scheduled to speak at VCU. But it did not get to that. A few days before Hawkins was scheduled to appear, SFLA officials found announcements on Antifa channels that the event would be disrupted. SFLA officials then spoke to the university administration and the local police. The organization also hired a private security service.

When Hawkins arrived, protesters blocked access to the venue. They began chanting to keep Hawkins from speaking. Three lifeguards were injured in attacks by the demonstrators. An SFLA employee who wanted to document the incidents with a camera was also attacked, the organization said.

Police arrested two protesters, neither of whom have any connection with the VCU, a local broadcaster reported. Kristan Hawkins posted a number of videos on Instagram showing security guards separating protesters from lifeguards.

The SFLA expressed disappointment with the behavior of the university administration and the police. These would have allowed the demonstrators to act. It took 27 minutes for the police to show up. Upon their arrival, police officers did not move once morest the protesters to allow their speech, but merely escorted them and other lifeguards to a secure room, Hawkins said.

She would like to make up for her appearance at the VCU and has appealed to the university management to allow another date and to ensure the appropriate safety precautions. The right to free speech of lifeguards, especially at the university, is at stake. It should not be the case that lifeguards are no longer able to hold events for fear of demonstrators, she warned.

Did you like the article? Please help kath.net and donate now via bank transfer or credit card/Paypal!

Tweet news/81309" data-width="" data-layout="standard" data-action="recommend" data-size="small" data-share="true"/>

reader opinions

In order to be able to write your own comments, you must be logged in.

To be able to comment on kath.net articles, you must register with Register kathLogin. The comments are randomly checked and activated by moderators. There is no right to activation. A comment is limited to 1000 characters. Comments do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editors.
In this context, kath.net also refers to Pope Benedict’s letter on the 45th World Day of Social Communications and invites commentators to use it as a guide: “Communicating the gospel through the new media doesn’t just mean expressing extremely religious content on the platforms of the various media, but also to consistently bear witness in one’s own digital profile and communication style to decisions, preferences and judgments that are deeply in line with the gospel, even if they are not explicitly spoken of.” (www.kath.net)
kath.net reserves the right to remove comments that violate criminal law, are contrary to good morals or otherwise run counter to the reputation of the medium. In this case, users cannot make any claims. Due to time constraints, no correspondence can be conducted regarding the moderation of user comments. Furthermore, kath.net reserves the right to report criminally relevant facts.