Nov 19, 2007 / 12:11 pm
Pro-life activists protesting a new Illinois Planned Parenthood location are facing conflicting legal advice from city officials and threats of mass arrests from the local police chief.
Large protests take place monthly at the Aurora, Illinois Planned Parenthood facility, which is the largest of its kind in the nation. Protestors have alleged First Amendment violations of their free speech rights, and a lawsuit is pending against the city.
Aurora Police Chief William Powell claims the protestors have been "threatening" and called a paddy wagon to last month's protests. At Tuesday's City Council Meeting, Chief Powell stated "I hope [demonstrators] will go along with what we ask them to do. If not, I will guarantee there will be arrests made."
"We have bent over backwards to accommodate the protesters there, but they are starting to abuse us," Powell said, according to the Herald News. "They threaten us out there; they threaten to sue us. They shove cameras in our faces as a way to intimidate us and get what they want."