An abortion supporter attacks a group of pro-life advocates in Columbus, Ohio and was recently ordered to pay restitution in the case. Now, in a strange twist, the abortion backer’s mother has filed suit against the pro-life group claiming “emotional distress” from the publicity surrounding her daughter’s assault of their members.
The abortion backer, Victoria Duran, who attacked the pro-lifers in a profane rant captured on video last month has been ordered to pay restitution and the case has been closed.
Mark Harrington, founder of Created Equal, and Seth Drayer, who was physically attacked (video below) while leading a group of pro-life students in sharing the pro-life message in downtown Columbus, Ohio, said they would drop the charges if Victoria Duran would meet with them. That didn’t happen and Duran was ordered to pay $80 in restitution for the destroyed signs, and the charges of criminal damaging and assault were dropped.
Now, several accusations have been laid against Created Equal by the attacker’s mother culminating in an appearance on Columbus TV station ABC6/FOX28. One of the accusations was that Seth was not pushed into a city bus. Last night Created Equal released additional video to refute this accusation.
Duran’s mother claims the pro-life group caused “emotional distress” by releasing the video.
But the pro-life group, in a statement, told LifeNews: “The intentional infliction of emotional distress must meet certain criteria. The behavior must be considered extreme, dangerous, and reckless. By releasing the video, Created Equal’s intention was not to inflict emotional distress but to inform the public of the constant threat of violence we face when we conduct outreach in the public square. Because of the nature of the internet, we have no control over a video once it is posted online. Bringing a lawsuit against us for something we have no control over would be considered frivolous.”
Duran’s mother also claims it incited Duran to attack Drayer and that pro-life advocates contacted her at her home and business to harass her.
“Created Equal forgives the attacker and in no way condones people acting towards this young woman in an uncivilized manner. However, we cannot control the actions of others. Blaming peaceful pro-lifers for inappropriate actions of others is like blaming the non-violent activism of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for the violent actions of the Black Panthers,” the group said.
The group added: “A temporary restraining order (which we did not seek) was placed on the attacker keeping us from contacting her. We communicated to the prosecutor our willingness to drop the charges if the attacker would apologize. The charges were dropped and an apology was never provided. In fact, the mother defended her pro-abortion position and wrote on our Facebook page that her daughter would never apologize (see the mother’s comments HERE).”
Mark Harrington, Executive Director of the organization, told LifeNews: “We are disappointed that we never got the opportunity to meet with the attacker. We had hoped to share with her that we had no ill will towards her and forgive her for the incident. Sadly, that opportunity never took place. The good news is we got a tacit admission of guilt by the restitution and the young lady does not have this on her record.”
During the attack, Duran says, ““You’re just a white f—— privileged racist f—— male who doesn’t stand for women’s rights.” The abortion advocate adds, “No uterus, no right to talk about it. Understand, Mother f—–?”
ABC6/FOX28 caught up with Duran hours later and asked her about her actions.
“The first amendment protects them from government interference it doesn’t protect them from people basically telling them they’re idiots. But you assaulted them? Assault I wouldn’t necessarily say shoving them aside and telling them to keep the camera out of my face as assault. You think it’s okay to push people? I believe that I had the right to tel them the did not have my consent to film me,” said Duran.
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WARNING: The following video contains graphic images and language.
h/t Saynsumthn
