Pro-abortion students arrested for disrupting pro-life event at Virginia university

Four pro-abortion students were arrested for disrupting a Students for Life of America (SFLA) pro-life event at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) on April 26.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Cassandra Mellor, 20; Casey Lockledge, 19; Joseph Friedman, 21; and Theo Mastio, 19 were arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing. Mastio was also charged with resisting arrest. 

The four were identified by SFLA president Kristan Hawkins as possible members of Antifa. The event marked the second time in one month that Hawkins visited the campus. In March, when she attempted to speak, protesters and possible Antifa members prevented her from doing so, effectively shutting down the event. This time, the VCU administration warned protesters that it would not allow shouting or any attempts to disrupt the pro-life event.

In a social media live stream, Hawkins reported that she was being kept in a safe room before she was able to speak as the event space was filling with dozens of disruptive protesters who had brought a speaker system and were screaming expletives. Eventually, law enforcement made the arrests and the other protesters dispersed, allowing Hawkins to take the stage for her speech.

Hawkins also noted that the police and the university’s vice president had been very responsive in preparing for the event, creating a buffer zone plan and telling students they couldn’t disrupt her speech. This response was markedly different from the March event, when pro-abortion protesters caused chaos and injuries, preventing Hawkins from speaking altogether.

“VCU is dedicated to promoting a safe environment for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to gather and speak freely in a civil manner,” university spokesperson Michael Porter told the Times-Dispatch, adding that the university had made its policy clear days ahead of the event, informing students that they faced prosecution if they insisted on interfering with Hawkins’ speech.

Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert praised the university for the way it handled things.

“The expectations for those attending the event were made clear from the beginning, and when those rules were violated by protesters, campus police quickly and professionally removed them,” he said in a statement.

Hawkins said that despite the virulent pro-abortion behavior she has experienced at VCU, the campus’ SFLA chapter has also grown, as students have come to recognize the importance of standing up for life.

“If we can’t speak on a college campus, if we can’t dare talk about the violence of abortion on a college campus, we have no hope and future in the pro-life movement,” she said.

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