Photo by Darwyn
Administrators at a Northeast public charter school filed a lawsuit yesterday against anti-abortion protesters, citing incidents where the defendants harassed students in relation to the construction of a Planned Parenthood clinic next door.
The complaint, which was filed in D.C. Superior Court, alleges that protesters “engaged in a pattern of extreme and outrageous conduct,” such yelling to students that Planned Parenthood kills kids, showing “gruesome photos purporting to be aborted fetuses,” and following students to the doors of the school building.
Some of the students are as young as three-years-old.
These aggressive acts against the youth, the complaint continues, are intended to stop the construction of Planned Parenthood by harming the student’s emotional well-being, upsetting parents or guardians, “and ultimately damag[ing] the school’s reputation within the community.”
The lawsuit cites five defendants by name—three males and two females. It also addresses unidentified protesters who “act in concert with the defendants.”
According to the complaint, which was first reported by the Post, defendants promised to show up every week until school administrators and parents stands up against the health center.
The defendants face two counts: intentional infliction of emotional distress and private nuisance/conspiracy to create a private nuisance. For a series of actions that are detailed in the document, the school is asking for relief for the safety of the children.
“As a D.C. resident of fifteen years, this is not what I want to see in my community and the schools that I will send my daughter,” says Sasha Bruce, Senior Vice President for Campaigns and Strategy at NARAL Pro-Choice America.
What’s also important to note is this case isn’t isolated, Bruce continues. “It’s connected to what’s happening to the arsons across the country and people are targeting folks going into and around the clinics on a daily basis.” Further, Bruce says, the protestors’ actions, “are out of line with mainstream America.”
Jonathan Darnel, one of the protesters named in the lawsuit, told the Post that it was “typical of our culture…We blame the messenger instead of the message. They should be filing a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood for moving in there and building this place next to their school.”
City Paper detailed this fall how protesters are trying to attack the construction of the clinic through the regulatory system, in addition to demonstrating.
The health center is slated to open next door to Two Rivers in May 2016.
