This Pro-Lifer Who Was Arrested for Writing ‘Black Preborn Lives Matter’ Says His Rights Were Violated
A pro-life activist who DC police arrested Saturday said that his “first amendment rights were violated” during an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Students for Life of America member Warner DePriest and Executive Director Kristan Hawkins discussed why two of the organization’s members were arrested for writing “Black preborn lives matter” on the sidewalk in front of the clinic.
“My niece and nephew sidewalk-chalk their arts and crafts hour in the District of Columbia every single day. This was viewpoint discrimination,” DePriest told the DCNF. “I’m outraged. My first amendment rights were violated.”
DePriest said he is part of a sidewalk advocacy group within the Students for Life of America that helps expectant mothers and couples find pregnancy resources.
“There are other options to the death culture of Planned Parenthood,” he said in the interview.
The arrests came after Mayor Bowser commissioned the “Black Lives Matter” slogan to be painted on the streets of DC earlier this summer. Activists painted “Defund the Police” next to the mural, making the phrase appear “Black Lives Matter = Defund the Police.” Bowser’s government allowed “Defund the Police” to remain, The Washington Post reported. No arrests were made.
“It’s very clear that the mayor does not like our speech,” Hawkins said in the interview. “She was the honored guest at Planned Parenthood when they opened up their brand new shiny building … She is a friend of Planned Parenthood.”
Attorney Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, who is the CEO of the Center for American Liberty, previously told the DCNF, “I think it’s going to become clear as legal proceedings, which are probably inevitable, proceed on this matter that the city and it’s law enforcement have violated clearly established First Amendment precedent that bars treating similarly situated circumstances of free speech differently.”
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