A man who assaulted a young, female pro-life advocate Sunday in Toronto has been identified by his employer.
Noble Studio 101, a hair salon in Toronto, posted a message on Instagram Wednesday identifying the man as Jordan Hunt, one of its former employees. The business said it fired Hunt after seeing him on a now-viral video.
“It has been brought to our attention that Jordan Hunt has been caught on camera assaulting an innocent bystander at a pro life rally,” the business wrote. “We don’t condone his actions and he has been let go. We believe that everyone has a right to an opinion and the right to voice their opinion without fear of physical violence.”
An Instagram account under the name Jordan Hunt also appears to be the same man as the one in the video. A recently removed page on the studio website also showed Hunt’s photo and a short biography.
On Sunday, Campaign Life Coalition Youth Coordinator Marie-Claire Bissonnette participated in a Life Chain with a group of pro-lifers in Toronto when she filmed the man – allegedly Hunt – assaulting her.
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The Violent Left STRIKES AGAIN… Liberal Man ROUNDHOUSE-Kicks Pro-life woman …
Will democrat leadership condemn ?? Will the establishment media even bother to report on this tonight?! https://t.co/JTsT2Zz59J pic.twitter.com/xEe3EgrWMc— Stephanie Hamill (@STEPHMHAMILL) October 3, 2018
Bissonnette says she was assaulted by a man that afternoon.
She alleges that a man took out markers and defaced two of the group’s signs.
“After these acts of vandalism, he approached the pro-abortion demonstrator, evidently in order to seek her approval, which she appeared to deny him by discouraging his tactics,” she said. “At this point I took out my cell phone and began to record him, telling him that what he did was destruction of private property and it was against the law.” …
In the video, the man is seen “roundhouse-kicking” Bissonnette, and her phone drops to the ground as she asks for someone to call the police.
Bissonnette said the man also defaced several of their signs and scribbled on several pro-lifers’ clothes, including those of a 10-year-old girl, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
She said she later filed a report with police. It is not clear if Hunt has been apprehended.
Late Wednesday, after reports of the man’s identity surfaced, Bissonnette posted a message on Twitter asking people to pray for him.
Marie-Claire here – I’m fine. Thank you to all those who’ve reached out in concern. A few people have identified the man who attacked me. I understand the video is upsetting to watch, but please pray for the guy.
— CLC Youth (@clcyouthprolife) October 3, 2018
On Wednesday morning, Campaign Life Coalition sent out a call for help online.
“PLEASE WATCH AND SHARE,” it posted on Twitter with a link to the video. “Our Youth Coordinator was assaulted on the weekend during #lifechain. If you have any tips on who he is or where he may be please call Toronto Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. This violence against pro-lifers needs to STOP!”
The video of the incident is going viral with more than 400,000 views in the past day.
Bissonnette has indicated that she was not the only person targeted Sunday during the Life Chains. In Mississagua, she said someone walked up to a pro-life advocate from behind and poured paint over his clothes while he was praying.
“I’ve participated in many public pro-life activities throughout my life,” she wrote for LifeSiteNews this week. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been attacked. Rocks have been thrown at me. I’ve been spat upon multiple times and pushed. Men have aggressively asked how I would like it if they raped me and forced me to have an abortion. There is a media-driven narrative that pro-life activists are violent and a danger to women. This is a bald-faced lie. The only violence or aggression I’ve witnessed in my many years in the pro-life movement comes entirely from pro-abortion activists, and yet it’s rarely, if ever, reported.”
LifeNews has reported about dozens of threats, vandalism and other violence against pro-life advocates in the past year. These range from threats against prominent pro-life politicians like U.S. Reps. Chris Smith, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Steve Scalise to a Missouri sidewalk counselor who had a gun pointed at him.
In September, a popular conservative blogger was under police protection after she received rape and death threats because of a pro-life tweet. In June, a Florida man who volunteers at Planned Parenthood was arrested after he allegedly threatened to kill pro-life U.S. Rep. Brian Mast’s children. Then in August, someone threatened to rape and kill the family of a pro-life advocate with Operation Rescue.
Within the past month, two Republican party offices also have been targeted. One in Illinois was vandalized with spraypaint, while local authorities said someone intentionally set fire to another in Wyoming.
Students for Life also has documented more than 40 incidents of vandalism alone in the past five years against its pro-life students groups. An interactive map displays the places where its clubs have been victims of vandalism.
