Pro-Life Workers Arrested in Birmingham, It's a Sad Day for Human and Civil Rights

Nine wrongfully arrested in Birmingham, Alabama for distributing pro-life literature on a public sidewalk.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - At 7:00 am Friday morning Kortney Blythe was just being released after spending 14 hours in the Birmingham, Alabama city jail. Blythe, along with eight other members of Survivors Campus Life Tour, was arrested for reportedly trespassing while handing out pro-life literature near Parker High School.

She was one of four women released and awaited action regarding the one additional women and the four men who are also members of the group. They were finally released at 9:00am.

As the director of Campus Life Tour, an outreach of the pro-life ministry Survivors, Blythe was busy videotaping the event when, without warning, a dozen police cars arrived on the scene. The men and women were not informed why they were being arrested, but handcuffed and placed in the cars. Their video cameras and other equipment were confiscated and at last report, not yet returned. The group's van was also impounded.

Blythe told Catholic Online that one officer approached her, saying the group was trespassing. She responded by explaining that they were on a public sidewalk and simply exercising their constitutional rights. The officer responded, "You just can't be here."

Not long after that she was stopped from her videotaping and placed in the back of a squad car. Another young woman was also placed next to her whose handcuffs were so tight she was crying out in pain. Police were unresponsive to pleas from Blythe to loosen the woman's handcuffs.

All but two members of the Survivors Campus Life Tour team distributed educational literature to passing students near Parker High School just as classes were dismissed on Thursday afternoon. The remaining two held large signs and dialogued with students on the public sidewalk.

One member of the group, Rev. Henry "Bud" Shaver, a 30 year-old youth minister, was not only handcuffed but had his feet shackled at the jail. Earlier, when he was arrested near the high school campus he was told by police that the sidewalk was not public property for "non-citizens of Birmingham."

Blythe was questioned at the jail about the actions of the group, where she explained that they were expressing their rights guaranteed by the Constitution to gather on a public sidewalk and express their opinions. To that, one of the policemen responded, "You're in Alabama, now."

The intervention by the Birmingham Police Department began when a campus officer called them after the Survivors declined to leave the area. The group explained as they knew they had a right to stand on the sidewalk, which allegedly made no impression on the officer.

The Birmingham News reported that North Precinct Captain Lucette McMillan told them that the group was arrested because they were on school property and were asked to leave. The News also reported that the same group had been arrested on a college campus in Virginia.

Campus Life Tour, however, also visited 94 campuses last semester without any problems. Before arriving in Birmingham, they spent a week visiting a number of locations in Florida and had been in Valdosta, Georgia, all without incident.

After her release this morning Blythe stated, "We were arrested yesterday because of the content of our message. It's clear from the attitudes and actions of the police officers that our message of life is not welcome in Birmingham, and prejudice is alive and well in this city.

"It is a shame that this historic city which saw the Civil Rights movement firsthand continues to refuse basic civil rights to peaceful activists simply on the basis of their message," she went on to say."We are shocked by the Birmingham Police Department's response to our peaceful actions, and we call upon the Chief of Police to initiate a thorough investigation of yesterday's horrifying civil rights abuses.

"The Survivors will continue to peacefully promote a culture of life and expose the truth of abortion in Birmingham and throughout the state of Alabama, regardless of the actions of prejudiced police officers."

During their overnight stay, members of the group learned that some of the guards at the jail also worked as security guards at a local abortion clinic in their off-duty hours.

Attorneys had worked throughout the night to try to get a clear understanding of what happened and to seek the release of the group.

One attorney who is handling the case is Allison Aranda with the Life Legal Defense Fund. She told LifeNews.com, "I am in shock and disbelief that a person can be arrested for simply standing on a public sidewalk and handing out literature."

"If there is any principle that is so deeply rooted in this nation's history it is the right of free speech, and it is shameful that those charged with upholding the law are in fact the ones that violated the highest law of the land today," Aranda said.

"If there is any principle that is so deeply rooted in this nation's history it is the right of free speech, and it is shameful that those charged with upholding the law are in fact the ones that violated the Highest Law of the land today," the pro-life attorney added.

Fr. Terry Gensemer, Rector of the Church of the Reconciler Charismatic Episcopal Church in Fairfield was at the Birmingham police station when the first members of the group were being released. He was visibly shaken by the events of the previous 24 hours and indicated, as one that has been active in Birmingham pro-life events as well as other activities around the country, that this came as a surprise. Fr. Gensemer serves as Executive Director of CECforLife for his denomination and is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Pro-Life Religious Council.

In speaking with Catholic Online, Gensemer stated, "I'm ashamed for my city where civil rights and the freedom to speak out have such a history. We are calling upon the City of Birmingham and the Police Department to issue a public apology."

"What an ironic situation." Gensemer later shared in a prepared statement. "The actions by the Birmingham Police Department are not only deplorable and shameful but are in direct conflict with the spirit and passion of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who stated that 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere'. These young people, who have correctly included unborn children as persons deserving of civil rights, should be commended, not condemned."

Campus Life Tour is an outreach ministry of Survivors, a Christian, pro-life activism organization headquartered in California. The group recognizes that those born after 1972 are survivors of the Abortion Holocaust which claimed 1/3 of that generation through the horror of abortion. They are dedicated to educating and activating high school and college age individuals regarding the murder of the unborn.

The Survivors are taking an active stand on behalf of those who have already been lost, and for those who are scheduled to die through abortion. We are empowered by the truth, enabled by extensive training, and unafraid of condemning the death of innocents.

Catholic Online will be continuing to monitor the situation in Birmingham as well as other parts of the country.

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