By BosNewsLife North America Service
WASHINGTON, USA (BosNewsLife)– An elderly anti-abortion activist was attacked and seriously I injured in the American state of Arizona, a week after another ‘pro-life’ demonstrator was shot and killed, a Christian group confirmed Monday September 21.
Operation Rescue said 69-year old Johnny Wallace was attacked by two women Saturday, September 19, while holding “two non-graphic, text-only signs protesting abortion in Flagstaff, Arizona.”
The incident came a after Jim Pouillon was shot and killed “for his public stand against abortion” the group added.
Wallace was alone in front of City Hall on the busiest street in town at the time of the attack with signs that read, “Abortion kills more black Americans in four
days than the Klan killed in 150 years,” and “Life begins at conception and ends at Planned Parenthood,” activists said. Wallace was known to protest at that
location every day.
He was reportedly approached from behind by two women, both 48, who began by yelling profanities at him. “One then attempted to take way and destroy his sign. After
Wallace was wrestled to the ground, the other woman joined the attack,” Operation Rescue said.
MEDICS ON SCENE
Paramedics were called and Wallace was treated for minor injuries, that included an elbow injury that required additional treatment, the group explained. Both women were reportedly briefly detained and released on misdemeanor charges of :disorderly conduct” and “criminal damage.”
Operation Rescue President Troy Newman said the latest attack was part of a growing trend. “This attack is especially disturbing because the motivation for the attack on Mr. Wallace was the same motivation that caused Harlan Drake to murder Jim Pouillon.”
He said there has been “an increasing attitude that it is okay to hurt pro-life people if one does not agree with them. This disturbing trend must stop.”
Newman said Operation Rescue has received “hundreds of threats” and “suffered three acts of vandalism on their headquarters” in recent months. He urged “pro-life churches” to participate in the fight against abortion.
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
“We cannot depend on pro-abortion groups to rein in their supporters. It is incumbent on the Christian community to come alongside pro-life activists all over the country and stand with them…Even Jesus sent out the disciples in groups of two.”
Not all evangelicals agree with Operation Rescue’s actions, with some saying Christians should focus on spreading what they view as the life-transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ
in a hurting world.
Operation Rescue describes itself as one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. It recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and views its anti abortion actions “in obedience to Biblical mandates.”
