Below is an excerpt from an article I co-authored with Andrew Walker for ERLC:
Social media has brought us another viral video about abortion. Brian Sims, a state representative in Pennsylvania, broadcast a video over the weekend in which he accosted and mocked several people for “protesting” outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic in his district. But instead of protesting, the people captured in Sims’ video had clearly gathered peacefully outside of the abortion clinic in order to pray. To be clear, the “protestors” involved are an elderly woman and several young girls.
Based on both the video evidence and Sims’ own description of the events, there is no indication that those outside of the clinic ever harassed or obstructed the movement of anyone seeking to enter or exit the clinic. Even so, Sims determined that the appropriate response to those who had gathered to pray was to berate and shame them. In addition to subjecting them to his offensive and demeaning tirade, Sims took the extra step of inviting those viewing the video online to doxx the young girls, whom he had targeted with his vitriol. “Doxxing” refers to exposing someone’s name and address without their consent in hopes of intimidating them with a deluge of hate.
The events are captured in two separate live stream recordings. In the first video, Sims encounters a woman whom he describes as “an old, white lady.” For nearly 10 minutes, this elected official films himself following, insulting, and harassing the woman up and down the sidewalk. Even as she essentially refuses to engage Sims’ comments, he persists in calling her “disgusting” and “racist.” Moreover, as he subjects her to this ridicule, he has the audacity to claim that although she has a legal right, she has no “moral right” to stand and pray outside of an abortion clinic. In his own words, “this isn’t Christianity.”
You can read the rest here.
Joshua Wester 