WATCH: ShutDownDC attempts to disrupt pre-March for Life activities
Heather Hunter
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As thousands converge on the National Mall Friday afternoon, a group of longtime progressive activists in Washington, D.C., organized Friday morning to disrupt the preceding March for Life-related events in the metropolitan area.
Five abortion rights activists disrupted a prayer event organized by Priests for Life at the DAR Constitution Hall.
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In a video posted by activist Thomas Walker, a protester yells at the stage from the crowd.
“This community supports abortion access. This community supports our trans siblings. Protect abortion access! Protect trans lives!” the protester yelled as event organizers grabbed the ShutDownDC activist and escorted him out of the building.
In a statement released by ShutDownDC, it said its “five activists interrupted key moments of the service by loudly demanding support for abortion rights and trans rights.”
“The anti-abortion and anti-trans movements shield themselves in religious certitude, but the reality is that both religious and nonreligious people in the United States favor abortion rights and support for trans people,” said Alex Murphy, a former pastor who participated in ShutDownDC’s protest.
https://twitter.com/twalker317/status/1616455446952386560
Activist Sadie Kuhns said in the group’s statement, “These extremists have no moral authority. No one is being forced to have abortions or transition. It’s my right to make those decisions for myself. That’s why I took action today.”
https://twitter.com/sandiespoons/status/1616461273515925508
“I rose up for abortion rights and trans lives at the forced birther National Prayer Service,” Kuhns wrote in a tweet featuring her protest. “WE WILL NOT BE ERASED. #DCDontLikeFascists.”
The group has been known to many commuters as frequent protesters who block the roadways and intersections for various climate protests over the years, but its issues in recent years have expanded beyond climate change.
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In January 2021, the group staged an hourlong vigil outside the home of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) over his views on the 2020 presidential election. Hawley called the group “antifa scumbags” in a series of tweets after he said they came to his house and “threatened my wife and newborn daughter.” The senator claimed protesters had “screamed threats, vandalized, and tried to pound open our door.”
The group responded to the senator in a tweet that its members are “absolutely and unapologetically anti-fascists.”