Pro-life demonstrators arrested: "We'll come up with a reason later"

From Les Femmes, The Women of Truth - Dear Friends, I often talk about the persecution against Christians being alive and well in this country. Here is a perfect example. Last Friday, August 1st DEFEND LIFE of Baltimore was attending the last stop of their week-long 2008 Face the Truth Tour. For a week a group of pro-lifers travels around the tri-state area (MD, D.C., and VA) with large signs showing the reality of abortion. They visit three cities a day. This annual event has been taking place for eight years without incident -- until now. Here's the information we are getting from those who were there: "It was the last day of the Face the Truth Tour Friday August 1, 2008 at the last stop around 4:20 when state Trooper for Hartford County named Bradley demanded the team members put their signs down and move or be arrested. So Jack Ames and his team moved down the highway and inside the city limits of Belair, Maryland itself. They set up all the signs and were peacefully praying and standing quietly when an armada of twenty police cars appeared on the horizon. Without a word eighteen members of the Face the Truth Tour members were handcuffed with their hands behind their backs. Two of the members had problems with their pulses because the cuffs were so tights. They waited thirty minutes for the paddy wagon. "The men and women were obviously in separate cells Although they could hear each other and joined in singing together songs like Ava Maria, Holy God, and Our Father. "It took until today Saturday August 2, 2008 at 10:45 for the last of the pro-lifers to be released. They all were charged with loitering, unlawful orders, and disorderly. "The state fair was taking place and Sue went to the fair and located house delegates and had them call the state attorney's office and found out that the number one person who is pro life was out of town and number two person gave permission for a mass arrest of 18 pro-lifers. Also, Joan, one of the pro-lifers, was with a woman who had been arrested and in a police car who overheard a conversation over the police radio which said, 'go ahead and arrest them and we will figure out what to charge them later.' "Seems like a lawsuit for false arrest will follow." The police in Bel Air are in for a big surprise. Many of these pro-lifers are veterans of the rescue movement. They will not roll over and play dead in the face of constitutional violations and false arrest. Please pray for these pro-life warriors. I have joined in the Face the Truth Tour in Winchester, VA on several occasions and it is always peaceful and prayerful. Would these folks be arrested if they stood with "Honk for Hillary" or "Change with Barrack," or "Vote McCain?" Not likely. Their message, however, is politically incorrect and unwelcome, the very reason the first amendment protected their activities. For more photos and a press release from Operation Rescue go to http://www.operationrescue.org/?page_id=1007 Please call or email the Archbishop of Baltimore, Most Rev. Edwin O'Brien, and ask for his assistance for these dear sheep of his flock. Jack Ames, the president of DEFEND LIFE is a fixture in the Archdiocese who has worked tirelessly for the unborn and for the faith. He and his little flock need the support of their shepherd. What happened to them is an outrageous abuse of police authority. Archdiocese of Baltimore 20 Cathedral Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201 Phone: 410-547-5437 Fax: 410-727-8234 archbishop@archbalt.org