by Ben Johnson
PROVIDENCE, RI, January 30, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street movement threw condoms on Catholic schoolgirls, refused to allow a Catholic priest to give a closing prayer, and shouted down a pro-life speaker at a Rhode Island right to life rally on Thursday, according to its organizer. The event marked the third time protesters associated with the movement have disrupted a pro-life meeting in a week.
About two-dozen members of Occupy Providence hiked from Burnside Park to the 39th Annual Pro-Life State House Rally organized by the Rhode Island State Right to Life Committee on Thursday.
The pro-life organization’s executive director, Barth E. Bracy, told LifeSiteNews.com that, near the end of the rally, the Occupiers “strategically fanned out with military precision.”
That’s when they “started showering condoms down on some of the girls from a Catholic high school.”
They gathered around speakers at the podium, shouting them down or otherwise jostling them and members of the audience.
Bracy, who finished only a quarter of his keynote address before being drowned out by chants and catcalls, said the Occupiers – who carried a large sign reading “Occupy Providence” and wore distinguishing arm bands – physically bumped several people. “They’re touching you. They’re swarming you,” he said.
The Providence chapter openly planned its actions on its Facebook page, Bracy said.
Bracy said he was disappointed when he tried to ask a man from the national Occupy Wall Street movement, who identified himself as “Dallas,” what opposing the right to life had to do with economics. http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/why-does-occupy-wall-st.-support-big-abortion “You can’t have a reasoned conversation with these people,” he said, “They simply try to taunt you. They’re smug, snarky, arrogant. You won’t get a straight answer.”
Dallas told Bracy he was on a 13-city national tour to teach Saul Alinsky tactics to local organizers.
“Their actions have made it loud and clear, whatever else they are, they are pro-abortion – and they are willing to attack the pro-life movement,” Bracy told LifeSiteNews.
Members of the Occupy movement, which putatively focuses on economic and financial issues, have begun aggressively demonstrating against those who advocate for the rights of the unborn.
Approximately 15 protesters from Occupy D.C. disrupted the March for Life Youth Rally in the nation’s capital last Saturday evening.
Last Monday, they disrupted a prayer service for the unborn in front of the Supreme Court.
“What they did yesterday was clearly the most outrageous and egregious thing they’ve done so far,” Bracy said on Friday. “I don’t know if this is a sign of what’s to come from them, but I think it’s important Catholics and pro-lifers know who these people are.”
However, such outrageous and offensive tactics may prove counterproductive for the pro-abortion movement. “They couldn’t have done us a bigger favor,” Bracy said. “We’re more popular with the legislators than we’ve ever been, because they’re absolutely appalled at their behavior.”
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