Town Hall Ejects Pro-life Activist Randall Terry

Randall Terry, Pro-life activist and founder of Operation Rescue, was escorted by police from a Town Hall meeting in Northern Virginia.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - On Monday the news that Randall Terry planned on being present at the Town Hall meeting of Virginia Congressman Jim Moran was buzzing around many Democratic blogs and websites. This was the last stop of a 5 state, 10 city tour focusing on the inclusion of abortion in healthcare legislation.

Not only was Terry going to be present, but he was going to bring others and disrupt the meeting, scheduled to be held in a high school gymnasium in Reston, Virginia.

Tuesday evening, Terry and other pro-life demonstrators, were at the meeting as promised. They stood and shouted "We won't pay for murder!" just as former Governor Howard Dean, a guest of Moran, began to speak. The congressman then announced to the crowd that Terry had come to disrupt and inaccurately reported that he wasn't even from his congressional district.

As the small group of protesters began to call out, they were surrounded by healthcare supporters who shouted back. The event became a scene of noise and chaos for almost ten minutes. The commotion continued to escalate as another portion of the crowd began chanting "kick him out, kick him out."

When Terry continued his challenge, Moran called out, "Rather than being escorted out, you can have the option of having the first question and five minutes of saying whatever you want, then it would be restricted, otherwise you need to leave."

Terry continued to call out and was then told to leave by police. He walked out peacefully, without resistance, but continued to shout challenges to the people present regarding the implications of abortion in the current healthcare bill.

Earlier in the evening, Town Hall attendees walked into a gymnasium that had the appearance of a political rally. A large number of identical signs were being waved by constituents that read "Standing Together for Health" on one side and "Thank You" on the other. The signs were provided by Organizing for America, the campaign arm of the Democratic National Committee.

Outside the building, Terry and his group were using street theatre, as they had in other cities, to demonstrate their concerns. In one skit, Terry wore surgeon's clothing and stood beside a young woman dressed as an elderly woman. He held out a baby doll and stabbed it repeatedly with a rubber knife.

A CNN journalist asked Terry about the images he was portraying in these skits. "We're trying to use jolting images to shock people into reality," he replied. "What (Obama) represents is far more horrific than playing around with a plastic knife and baby doll."

Enjoy Daily Readings? Pay it Forward

After the event, Terry commented on the reason for their demonstration. "Howard Dean is an enemy of the unborn," he stated. "As such, we felt it our duty to disrupt his speech -- in honor and defense of those slaughtered under his policies. God have mercy on him, and bring him to repentance."

Northern Virginia's Eighth Congressional District is a democratic stronghold in the commonwealth and a majority of those present were supportive of the healthcare provisions, including public option.

The two-hour town hall meeting continued in a much more subdued tone after Terry's departure. Constituents were allowed to query the congressman based on questions they had submitted prior to the event. Even pre-screening didn't provide sufficient controls on the discussion as some individuals asked questions that differed from the ones submitted.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'