Two pro-life activists reported being attacked during a protest outside a Planned Parenthood facility in Washington D.C. One of them was thrown to the ground and punched by a man. The incident occurred on Friday, and the Metropolitan Police is currently investigating but no arrests have been made yet.
Terrisa Bukovinac, the founder and president of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), tweeted the following day about the assault, mentioning that two people decided to assault her and another pro-life defender outside the Planned Parenthood Center on 4th Street.
Terrisa Bukovinac and Mike Gribbin were protesting outside the facility when the two suspects approached them. One of them threw coffee at Terrisa Bukovinac, while the other assaulted Mike Gribbin, throwing him to the ground and punching him on the back and head. The video of the incident, which also includes profanity, was posted on Twitter. In the video, two people wearing “clinic escort” T-shirts can be seen intervening and breaking up the fight.
A male voice in the video can be heard saying, “It’s not worth anybody going to jail,” just before the man who assaulted Mike Gribbin walks away, swearing at a bystander recording the incident.
A spokesperson for the PAAU, Caroline Smith, issued a statement calling for the perpetrators to engage in conversations with Terrisa Bukovinac and to seek treatment for anger management as a way to address the harm caused and ensure safety.
The PAAU aims to attain socio-political justice for the preborn by mobilizing anti-abortion activists for direct action and opposing elective abortion through a progressive lens. Their website features graphics supporting “Trans Rights” and “Black Lives Matter,” as well as a silhouette of a fetus with the words “Protect the Unborn.”
