A Pennsylvania state lawmaker who filmed himself bullying teenage girls as they prayed outside an abortion facility is running for lieutenant governor of the state.
State Rep. Brian Sims, a pro-abortion Democrat, announced his candidacy Monday in a video online. In the video, Sims promised to be a responsible and courageous advocate for Pennsylvanians.
“After 10 years in the state house, I’ve taken the lessons that my parents taught me and reinforced them in my work as a legislator: to take responsibility, commit to service, be courageous and push for fairness,” Sims said in a statement. “I’m ready to take these values to lead the Commonwealth.”
But a pro-life leader in the state described Sims as a bully who harassed women and girls because they disagreed with him.
Maria V. Gallagher, legislative director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, an affiliate of National Right to Life, told LifeNews: “The representative harassed, intimidated, and tried to doxx teenage girls, along with a senior citizen. His bullying behavior flies in the face of the compassion toward women and girls we want to see from our elected officials in Pennsylvania.”
Sims faced national criticism in 2019 after he filmed himself bullying women and girls outside a Planned Parenthood abortion facility in his Philadelphia district.
In May of that year, Sims posted a video of himself berating an older pro-life sidewalk counselor outside the abortion facility. A second video that he posted in April 2019 showed him offering $100 for the identities of three teenage girls, ages 13 and 15, who were praying peacefully outside the abortion facility with their mother.
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Facing national criticism, Sims apologized to Planned Parenthood for making abortion activists look bad, but it took him nearly six months to issue an apology – a private one – to the teenage girls and their mother.
Despite a huge protest and national media attention, Pennsylvania Democrat leaders refused to take action against Sims. Bill Patton, a spokesman for Pennsylvania House Democrats, told the Philadelphia Inquirer at the time that they were “satisfied” with Sims’ promise that he will not behave that way again.
One of the videos that Sims posted showed part of his interaction with a mother and her teenage daughters who were praying outside the Planned Parenthood on the Thursday before Easter in 2019. In the video, Sims offered viewers $100 to identify the girls.
“What we’ve got here is a bunch of … pseudo Christian protesters who’ve been out here shaming young girls for being here. So, here’s the deal, I’ve got $100 to anybody who will identify these three, and I will donate to Planned Parenthood,” Sims said in the video.
The state representative was accused of trying to intimidate the girls through doxxing, a practice where a person’s name and contact information are posted publicly online to encourage harassment. Sims’ actions may have violated consent and cyberbullying laws, though he never faced charges.
In another video, Sims also appeared to be attempting to doxx another pro-life woman – he called her an “old white lady” – by asking his viewers for her name and address.
In the wake of national criticism, Sims released a statement that did not apologize for his behavior. Instead, he chose to attack pro-life advocates even more by claiming they “slur” and “attack” Planned Parenthood patients – without providing any evidence to support his claims.
