By Anti-abortion activists and students clashed between the Bookstore and Psychology Building on Monday, prompting a response from the University Police Department.
An anti-abortion group by the name “Survivors” displayed photos of dismembered fetuses and abortion statistics along the Bookstore pathway, grabbing the attention of students walking past. Activists also handed out pamphlets alleging the organs of aborted fetuses were being harvested.
One of the activists, identifying themselves as a “Survivor” and declining to use their real name, said the group had a mix of responses ranging from peaceful conversations to outright confrontation.
“We have some people that come up to us and quietly whisper, ‘Thank you for being here.’ We don’t get enough pro-life views on campus and then we also have those who get triggered,” the Survivor said.
Victoria Adint, a political science student, stopped to have a conversation with activists, which led to two more students joining in. After a verbal argument broke out, Adint and the other students walked away distraught.
“It’s not human, it’s not from a place of empathy, it’s from a place of hate and it’s really sad to see,” Adint said. “She was yelling at me, she was like ‘Are you going to punch me? Are you going to punch me?’ And I was like ‘No I’m not going to punch you, I’m just talking to you because I don’t think that what you’re arguing for is right.’”
As the tension grew with more students engaging, animation major Moth Leal pushed the group’s signs down, which sparked a larger confrontation. Shortly after, UPD arrived on the scene, breaking up the altercation.
When asked about the incident, UPD said they were unable to comment.
“If we want to use their logic. Did those babies consent to having their pictures spread around like this,“ Leal said. “Since they have all of the same rights as another human being, did they consent to having their bodies being posted?”
Nate Hargus, a Survivor activist, said the group used signs containing graphic imagery with dismembered fetuses to gain the attention of onlookers and spark conversation about abortion.
“What we believe is that you can’t be pro-choice if you don’t know what that choice looks like,” Hargus said. “Hence, victim imagery. So it goes back to a long line of history that proves victim imagery is something that people will never be able to unsee. ”
