A Stinky Situation

I and a young woman were standing beside the driveway peacefully attempting to make contact with abortion-minded women as they drove in. As we were doing this, a clinic escort began to spray both of us with an unknown foul-smelling substance which of course we objected to verbally. At one point the clinic escort dropped the spray bottle to the ground. Not knowing the contents of the dropped bottle which had been sprayed by her (a murder advocate, mind you!), I kicked it out on the street, rather than allow the young woman or myself to be sprayed again by this clinic escort.

A few days later I received a call in the morning from an unidentified employee of the LEC stating that I needed to come down to the LEC. He stated in his own words that there was a "silly accusation" made against me, assuring me that I would be processed in and out of that facility in minutes once I came in. Believing him, I complied, and to my consternation, I was handcuffed and taken to an overcrowded LEC holding room where I spent the day and a sleepless night amongst approximately 2 dozen repeat offenders until a judge released me the next morning after a midnight "trial" in which the clinic escort made false accusations about my motives as an ever peaceful, non-violent women's advocate. I was charged with "malicious destruction of property worth $1000.00 or less." Yes, much less. Maybe $10.00?

I infrequently stand in the public right-of-way beside the driveway of the Greenville Women's Clinic. Beside the driveway, I very peacefully offer literature about abortion alternatives to abortion-minded women as they enter the driveway in their vehicles. However, I have never impeded their access nor blocked their egress. Most every time I go to the driveway, I am accosted by rabid antifa-like hoodlums (is there a nicer, more accurate way to depict them!?) who are set on depriving me of my constitutional right to peaceably assemble and my right to freedom of speech. How do they accost me? They get in my face screaming profane insults; they stand right beside my sign so that their body blocks anyone from viewing the sign I hold; they turn on deafening noises with their sound devices; if I retreat away from them to another location on the public right-of-way, they follow me and do the exact same thing, or worse, to me there.

If I attempt to approach the vehicle of one who has stopped to receive my literature, they crowd me out of the way and accuse me of assault if I accidentally nudge them as they crowd me away from the person who would receive my literature. When I've called the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, the deputies who come out invariably defend the hoodlums' right to do to me as they have done.