Two people were arrested at the University of Florida’s Turlington Plaza on Friday afternoon during an anti-abortion protest that turned violent.
Bryn Taylor, president of the UF Graduates Assistant United union, and student Ian Dinkla were taken into custody by campus police and charged with multiple felonies, court records show.
Taylor, 26, and Dinkla, 21, were protesting large graphic images of aborted fetuses on display by travel organization Created Equal.
Police say Dinkla stole one of the signs valued at $120. When an officer tried to arrest Dinkla, he pushed the officer and took off, the report said. Taylor hit an officer in the back of the head with a bullhorn for trying to arrest Dinkla. An arrest report states that Taylor also punched a plainclothes officer in the face.
A video of the incident shows the two wrestling with the police after law enforcement was called to the scene for Dinkla to take the sign.
Dinkla is charged with robbery and resisting an officer with violence, both felonies, while Taylor faces felony charges of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence and misdemeanor resisting. to non-violent arrest.
No bond had been set as of Friday night.
Anti-abortion show
The signs displayed at the UF, while controversial, are not new.
The Created Equal group spends time regularly visiting Florida campuses to share their message. The anti-abortion group was at UF earlier in the week, as well as the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida. The self-described “ride of justice” tour, which first took place in 2011, is inspired by the freedom riders of the civil rights era and argues that unborn fetuses are protected by the 14th amendment – comparing abortion to historical tragedies, such as the Holocaust.
Two counter-protest groups displayed in the square to divert from the image, apparently in addition to Created Equal.
Planned Parenthood Generation Action drew its own crowd of students and handed out pink “ban our bodies” signs. Other students displayed signs demanding free access to abortion for all and were among the nearly two dozen who organized their own demonstration for bodily autonomy.
Olivia Packham, a member of the group Generation Action, said the controversial demonstrations are more dangerous for women than ever, considering the repeal of Roe V. Wade and other anti-abortion laws that have been passed, including the recently proposed six-week abortion ban in Florida.
“Florida was kind of a safe haven,” the 19-year-old health science major said. “Now (protections) have been removed so that in almost the entire south there is no safe place for abortions.
“We had experiences where students had panic attacks in response to these photos just because of how distressing they are. But in the end, we received much more support and response from the student body than they did.
Seth Drayer, the vice president of Created Equal, said the graphic images represent the reality of abortion.
“You can’t make abortion look good,” he said. “The reason it’s graphic is because abortion is graphic.”
Students on the university’s unofficial sub-Reddit channel, r/uflwarned sensitive students to avoid the area on Wednesday and Friday.
“Trigger warning for anyone walking through Turlington over the next hour or so,” wrote one user in a post with more than 150 upvotes. “You shouldn’t force anyone to see these real or fake images, especially people who are just trying to get to class.”
Another popular post celebrated a student called “our hero” who escaped with one of the exhibits on Wednesday. On Friday, some students knocked over the displays as they walked through the square.
Delaney Doum, a 19-year-old UF nursing student, sat in the plaza near the exhibit promoting the group Gator Christian Life. Although she is not affiliated with Created Equal, she said she supports the group’s work.
“It’s controversial, but it’s an effective way to do it,” Doum said. “It might be emotional to see some of the photos that are shown, but I think it’s important that people know what happens when you have an abortion.”
Maria Peralta, a 20-year-old UF finance junior who held a Planned Parenthood sign in the plaza, said she believes the display is a largely ineffective way to achieve the group’s goals.
“These pictures are so unnecessary, people are just trying to get to class,” Peralta said. “I don’t even think it looks real.”
This article originally appeared in the Gainesville Sun: Created Equal met by Planned Parenthood on graphic images at UF