Hispanic Pro-lifer Assaulted in Fresno, California; Local Media Punt
Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com reported on Friday that a pro-life activist was assaulted on October 15 by a supporter of abortion in front of the Planned Parenthood in Fresno, California, during a vigil for the nationwide 40 Days for Life campaign. Ertelt also noted that local TV news outlets ignored the story of the assault in their evening broadcasts, brushing it aside either because the victim’s injury wasn’t serious enough, or because they thought a story on “chocolate-covered bacon” was more important.
Victor Fierro, director of Latinos4Life, a pro-life organization, was physically attacked by a “pro-choice woman,” according to the press release by Right to Life of Central California (RLCC), which was also cited in the LifeNews.com report. The woman “shouted obscenities” at the pro-life demonstrators participating in the 40 Days for Life vigil in front of the Planned Parenthood facility, “before attempting to break the event security camera and assaulting...Fierro....The attacker cut Fierro’s arm with an unknown object, drawing blood, and then stormed back to her car and fled the scene.” The entire incident was captured by the video camera, though most of the assault occurred outside of its field of vision. However, the camera did capture her face and her car’s tag number.
The press release from RLCC also took the Fresno-area media to task for failing to cover the story:
“Local media ignored the story of yesterday’s assault on their evening news casts. KMPH Fox 26 told Josh Brahm [RLCC’s education director] that they weren’t going to cover the story since Victor ‘wasn’t stabbed, just scratched.’ KFSN ABC 30 shot footage at Planned Parenthood and interviewed both Josh Brahm and Victor Fierro, but didn’t use the story, replacing it with a piece on the new ‘chocolate-covered bacon’ stand at the local fair, and a man who believes he sees the virgin Mary on a rock.”
This decision by these media outlets isn’t surprising, since assaults on pro-lifers, such as the September 11, 2009 murder of James Pouillon, who was gunned down as he held a graphic picture of an aborted baby; or the December 22, 2007 assault on Ed Snell, who was thrown off the roof of his car while trying to convince his attacker’s girlfriend not to abort; do not receive half the coverage that violence against abortion performers receive.
I personally have participated in the 40 Days for Life campaign in front of the 16th Street Planned Parenthood in Washington, DC, which is located within sight of the White House, where our current pro-abortion president resides. All I have been “guilty” of doing on those multiple occasions is praying just steps outside the entrance to a building where babies are slaughtered within their mothers’ wombs. One of the goals of the campaign is to keep a constant 24-hours-a-day vigil outside the Planned Parenthood, and I contributed to this by often taking late night time slots, many times by myself. The last I checked, the freedom to peacefully assemble and to freely exercise my religion are protected rights in this country. No one should face that kind of attack just because their viewpoint is politically incorrect these days.
- Matthew Balan's blog
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