The chief of a far-right extremist group in Arizona sprayed mace into the faces of abortion-rights activists and their youngsters on Sunday night time, in line with the protesters and eyewitnesses.
The incident occurred in downtown Tempe throughout a second night time of protests on the finish of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court docket resolution that legalized abortion nationwide.
On Saturday night time, Jennifer Harrison, the chief of the extremist AZ Patriots group, had harassed and berated protesters, livestreaming all the things to her Fb followers.
On Sunday night time, she returned in her automobile and sprayed what bystanders mentioned was bear mace into the faces of a number of protesters, reportedly together with a number of youngsters. After she used the spray, among the group started hitting Harrison’s automobile so she sprayed them once more, in line with video footage of the incident reviewed by VICE Information.
Movies of the incident have been posted to social media hours later.
One eyewitness reported that paramedics have been additionally known as to the scene and a number of other protesters have been taken away by ambulance for additional remedy.
Earlier this 12 months, Arizona enacted a ban on abortions after 15 weeks, and it’s among the many 26 states that are expected to ban abortions outright now that the Supreme Court docket has overturned Roe. In consequence, hundreds of Arizona residents have taken to the streets. Some teams, like Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom, are utilizing the protests as a approach to name for the codifying of abortion protections inside the state.
Harrison has gained notoriety lately for main protests towards immigration, railing towards COVID-19 restrictions, and antagonizing left-wing activists akin to Black Lives Matter protesters. She has even admitted to utilizing “bear spray” on Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020, and mentioned that she would run them over together with her automobile if she felt threatened. She has additionally hung out on the southern U.S. border harassing migrants as they cross into the country.
Harrison didn’t reply to a request for remark.
A number of protesters known as out the police for his or her inaction, mentioning that they’d reacted very swiftly earlier within the night time when the peaceable protesters staged a sit-in on the road however did nothing when Harrison sprayed the protesters.
“Superb that every one these cops who have been so closely patrolling the peaceable abortion rights protesters did completely nothing when Jen Harrison drove by and maced a complete group of individuals,” AZ Proper Wing Watch, an nameless researcher who tracks extremist teams in Arizona, tweeted.
The Tempe Police Division didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The incident comes as fears over violence at abortion-rights protests develop within the wake of the Supreme Court docket’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The overwhelming majority of protests have been peaceable, however a handful have turned violent.
Simply down the street at Arizona’s State Capitol constructing, police fired teargas at abortion-rights protesters the day Roe was overturned, and in New York, police arrested over two dozen abortion-rights activists final week.
In Greenville, South Carolina, a police officer was captured on video threatening a lady with a Taser and throwing an aged man to the bottom. And in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, somebody drove a pickup truck through protesters, hospitalizing one lady.
