Pro-abortion protestors who assaulted pro-life students at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in March will not face jail time or have a criminal record but will have to perform community service for their actions.
On March 29, 2023, ANTIFA and pro-“trans” activists attacked pro-life students and speakers at a scheduled talk at VCU called “Lies Pro-Choicers Believe.” Turning Point USA Ambassador Isabel Brown and Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins were going to give the talk but were met with hateful chants that escalated to violence.
“As a series of altercations unfolded, a number of pro-life students and SFLA staff were assaulted resulting in several complaints filed and EMTs called to the scene to treat injuries,” Students for Life Action (SFLA) stated in a March 29 press release:
Autumn Walser, president of Students for Life at VCU, received an injury to her leg while a fellow student suffered cuts and scratches from aggressive protestors clawing at her…
City police were called and oddly detained SFLA team members and the pro-life students, allowing the Antifa and Transgender activists to disperse peacefully. Meanwhile, peaceful pro-life individuals were behind closed doors, and SFLA property and signs were stolen and vandalized.
“While this is not the first time that Antifa has protested Hawkins, it was the most violent,” SFLA stated:
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SFLA campus team members recognized professional Antifa agitators in the crowd because they have shown up at other events, egging on protestors in the crowd. Protestors carried signs for Black Lives Matter and Transgender power, using them to sometimes assault those in the crowd who were recording the chaos.
Two of the protestors, Natalie Hoskins III, 22, and Anthony Marvin, 30, were arrested at the scene. WRIC News reported that “neither Hoskins nor Marvin are affiliated with VCU, according to the university.”
“Hoskins was charged with simple assault and faced up to a year in prison and a fine, while Marvin was charged with disorderly conduct and faced the same punishment,” LiveAction reported.
Both Hoskins and Marvin got through the incident relatively unscathed, however. They will serve an unspecified amount of community service and will have no criminal record.
“Hoskins has allegedly completed 20 hours of community service, and the charges against her were subsequently dropped, according to court documents,” LiveAction continued:
Marvin completed 50 hours of community service and had to meet “other conditions,” according to Commonwealth Attorney of Richmond Colette McEachin.
Before the protests escalated to violence, the protestors yelled for around half an hour to drown out any questions the crowd may have had for Hawkins. Campus police allegedly stood by and “watched.”
SFLA said in the press release:
Hawkins was traveling with security that had to intervene to protect both her and other pro-life people in the crowd and who tried to call for a single representative from the protestors to ask questions and have a dialog. But most in the crowd did not want conversation.
Sadly, campus police refused to address the student shouting and shoving, and instead asked Hawkins to leave. Hawkins refused to stop the event, telling campus police, “You would have to arrest me. I’m not leaving.”
SFLA Executive Vice President Tina Whittington was present at the talk. “The protestors had three chants they kept recycling, ‘Fascists Go Home;’ ‘Nazis Go Home;’ and ‘F**k Pro-lifers,’” Whittington reported:
That’s the definition of fascism and Naziism — not allowing for free speech. They wouldn’t allow other ideas to be expressed, and in a way, they won, even though pro-life students stayed to talk after the event.
LifeNews Note: McKenna Snow writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
