Nebraska Obama HQ Greeted by Abortion Truck, Local Official Ticketed in Reply
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 11, 2008
Omaha, NE (LifeNews.com) — A truck with graphic abortion pictures operated by a Kansas pro-life group greeted the hundreds of Barack Obama supporters who turned up for the opening of a local headquarters. Upset that the truck was present, local Douglas County Board member Mike Boyle was ticketed by police for blocking the vehicle.
Members of Operation Rescue and Rescue the Heartland organized the appearance of the truck.
Together they staged a pro-life protest at the grand opening of Sen. Barack Obama’s Nebraska Headquarters in Omaha on Wednesday evening.
Equipped with signs that said "Abortion Is An Obamanation" and "Stop the War on the Unborn," the group confronted hundreds of Obama supporters and the media. Since the event was outdoors, participants saw the pro-life signs for hours.
Local officials told the Omaha World Herald that Boyle blocked the truck from exiting using his vehicle and created a traffic jam. He twice refused requests from officers to move.
"Because of the long backup that was being caused, the officer requested he move," officer Michael Pecha told the newspaper.
Boyle told the newspaper he blocked the truck because he was upset that pro-life advocates used it to get their message across and he was concerned young children would have to see the pictures.
"I thought, ‘That’s it. If that’s his protest, this is my protest,’" Boyle, a former Omaha mayor, said.
"I have no ax to grind with people who were protesting and who were civil," Boyle said. "But I felt it was time to stand up and let these bullies know we don’t allow that here — it was far beyond the community norm for Omaha."
Boyle later made the claim that the truck was used to protest funerals.
"Boyles owes Operation Rescue an apology for his false and inflammatory remarks," OR president Troy Newman told LifeNews.com. "Just because you disagree with someone, it doesn’t give you a license to lie about them."
This is the first time a Democratic presidential candidate has opened a statewide headquarters with a paid staff in Nebraska in a generation. The Obama campaign is hoping to pick up the electoral vote of eastern Nebraska, one of just two states to divide electoral votes based on Congressional district.
"Abortion has become the hot-button issue of this presidential campaign, and we applaud the Nebraska pro-lifers for taking that issue to the heart of the Obama camp in their state," said Newman. "We will continue to dog Obama on the issue of abortion whenever possible, because anyone who thinks that the issue of life is above his pay grade isn’t fit to be elected as dog-catcher, much less President of the United States."
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