
'Billboard Chris' sounds off after arrest in 'most woke city' for opposing transgender treatments for kids
Conservative activists warned about the threat to free speech in Europe after they were arrested in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday for holding signs opposing transgender medical treatments for children.
Chris Elston, better known as "Billboard Chris," and Alliance Defending Freedom International senior legal communications officer Lois McLatchie Miller spoke to Fox News Digital after they were released, hours after being harassed by a crowd and taken into police custody.
Elston, well known for wearing billboards decrying transgender medical care for children out in public, stood out in the streets of the Belgian capital alongside McLatchie Miller. Both wore billboards with the messages, "Children are never born in the wrong body" and "Children cannot consent to puberty blockers."
Elston travels the world to spread his message, which he says mostly receives positive feedback. But in Brussels, it was mostly opposition.
"It was pretty much non-stop abuse and harassment," Elston told Fox News Digital. "It quickly became apparent that this is probably the most woke city I have been to in my five years of campaigning, and nothing else comes close."
"We had a man throw a glass bottle at us. It landed behind me, but right in front of a five-year-old girl who was walking with her dad, smashed on the ground. People were telling me I needed to get out of there because Antifa was going to come, and no matter where we walked in the city, we were getting a lot of grief," he added.
After one man continually harassed McLatchie Miller, the pair called the police for protection. Instead, they were told if they didn't remove their signs, they would be arrested. They were then detained, strip-searched and had their signs confiscated, before they were released three hours later with no formal charge, Elston said.
"They put us in handcuffs and everything, but they just let us go, and it seems they just wanted to get rid of us instead of dealing with the angry, unruly mob," he added.
The activists were in Brussels this week to share their message and discuss policy issues with members of the European Parliament.
McLatchie Miller, who works for the faith-based legal organization, Alliance Defending Freedom International, said it was surprising to find herself detained, when she is usually fighting for ADF clients whose speech has been silenced by local authorities.
"I don't think we were quite prepared to expect this level of hostility here in Brussels, but hopefully it exposes some things that need to be exposed about the need to protect freedom of expression in Europe," she told Fox News Digital.
Vice President JD Vance recently sounded the alarm about free speech being under threat in Europe.
In a speech in Munich in February, he raised the case of a British army veteran who was arrested and charged for silently praying in an abortion buffer zone to warn that Europe appeared to be retreating from some of its fundamental values it shares with the U.S. and adopting "Soviet-era" censorship.
McLatchie Miller said her arrest "really represents the free speech crisis that Europe is facing right now."
"Vance pointed this out in his Munich speech just a few months ago, and many people in Europe laughed at him and said that this wasn't true," she continued. "But case after case, time after time, we're seeing this assault on free speech unfold."
"As Chris and I were just there sharing a very peaceful message, a very important message, that no child has ever been born in the wrong body, and they do not need drugs and scalpels to fix themselves, they need love and affirmation. It's an opinion that's shared by many people across Europe, and yet the authorities came and shut down that conversation in the streets of this capital city, this heart of the European Union."
"If free speech is not accessible here in Europe's alleged home of democracy, then it's not accessible anywhere, and it really does raise an alarm bell," she said.
Brussels police did not immediately return a request for comment.
Their arrest comes at a time when Elston believes there is a growing movement across the globe of those questioning or criticizing transitioning children.
"We're making tremendous progress all across the globe," he said.
He cited European countries like Finland, Denmark, and the United Kingdom which now discourage giving puberty blockers to children experiencing gender dysphoria.
"The truth is spreading," he added.
Elston said he speaks to people on both sides of the aisle who share his concerns about transitioning children, and he believes it was one major issue that swung voters away from the Democratic Party in the 2024 election.
"This was the number one issue in the U.S. election that caused swing voters to vote for President Donald Trump," he argued. "It wasn't the economy, it wasn't immigration, it was transgender insanity. And even in these Democrat states, a lot of those voters are sick and tired of this."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
NATO Seeks to Include Ukraine Funds in New Spending Target
NATO allies will consider allowing contributions to Ukraine's defense to be included in the new spending target alliance members are expected to adopt at a leaders' summit later this month. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization will also propose working toward eliminating defense trade barriers, according to a preliminary draft of the summit declaration seen by Bloomberg. The draft will likely change before the final version is agreed to at the meeting in The Hague.

Wall Street Journal
2 hours ago
- Wall Street Journal
While Senate Considers Genius Act, Russian Is Charged With Stablecoin Laundering
Criminal charges against a Russian man who allegedly used stablecoins to help his countrymen evade U.S. sanctions highlight the concerns about the cryptocurrencies, just as Congress considers legislation to regulate and legitimize them. Iurii Gugnin, who went by George Goognin, started a fintech company called Evita to help customers move money across borders, including through the use of stablecoins. Through that network, prosecutors say, Gugnin helped foreign customers move roughly $530 million into cryptocurrency wallets and U.S. bank accounts, including from sanctioned Russian banks.


CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Europe heaps harsh sanctions on Russia, saying ‘strength is the only language' Moscow understands
The European Union announced a new package of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, saying that Moscow's daily deadly attacks against Ukraine show that it is not interested in peace – despite recent diplomatic efforts. The new package – the 18th since Russia launched its full-scale unprovoked invasion against its neighbor in 2022 – is designed to further target the Kremlin's ability to make money from its oil and gas production. The proposal includes lowering the price cap on Russian oil exports from $60 to $45 per barrel and introducing a full transaction ban on Russian banks and financial institutions in third countries that help Russia circumvent existing sanctions. The EU said it is also proposing a ban on the use of Russian energy infrastructure, forbidding any EU operator from engaging directly or indirectly in any transactions that involve the Nord Stream pipelines. The new package will need to be approved by the EU's 27 member states. That could be complicated given previous concerns raised by some more pro-Kremlin governments, such as Hungary and Slovakia, about further sanctions targeting Russia. While both those countries have previously threatened to block new rounds of sanctions, so far they have ultimately voted in favor of them. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the sanctions were necessary 'because strength is the only language that Russia will understand.' 'We want peace for Ukraine. Despite weeks of diplomatic attempts, despite (Ukraine's) President (Volodymyr) Zelensky's offer of an unconditional ceasefire, Russia continues to bring death and destruction to Ukraine. Russia's goal is not peace, it is to impose the rule of might. Therefore, we are ramping up pressure on Russia,' von der Leyen said at a news conference in Brussels. The leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Poland last month told Russian leader Vladimir Putin to agree to a 30-day ceasefire or face possible 'massive' sanctions. Putin ignored the ultimatum, proposing instead 'direct talks' between Moscow and Kyiv. But two rounds of talks in Istanbul, Turkey, have made it clear Russia is sticking to its maximalist demands that would essentially equate to Ukraine's capitulation. Explaining why the EU has targeted Russia's energy sector, the Commission chief said oil exports still represent one third of Russian government revenues. 'We need to cut this source of revenue,' she said. The oil price cap was introduced by the EU and G7 countries in December 2022. The cap, which applies to Russia's seaborne oil exports, prohibits Western companies from providing shipping, insurance and other services needed to export the fuel unless it is priced below the threshold. By enforcing a price cap, the EU and its allies have tried to diminish a key source of revenue for the Kremlin while still allowing its oil to flow to the global energy market – because cutting Russia's supplies completely could destabilize the market and cause prices to shoot up. Von der Leyen said on Tuesday that the price cap needs lowering because global oil prices had fallen since the cap was first introduced and now trade 'very close' to the $60 level. The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, has dropped 18% since the price cap on Russian crude took effect on December 5, 2022. It was trading at almost $68 a barrel late morning Eastern Time (ET) on Tuesday. The bloc also wants to harden sanctions on Russia's banking sector. Shortly after the invasion, the United States, EU, Britain and Canada jointly banned some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging service – a high-security network connecting thousands of financial institutions around the world. That has made it far more difficult for those banks to send and receive money from abroad. Now, the Commission wants to go a step further and prevent any EU operator, such a a business, from conducting a transaction with a list of sanctioned Russian banks. It also plans to add another 22 of Moscow's banks to that list. Additionally, the bloc wants to extend the transaction ban to financial institutions in third countries that help Russia circumvent existing sanctions. Von der Leyen said the latest package of sanctions will also broaden the current ban on materials and technologies that can be exported to Russia, adding: 'We want to make sure that Russia does not find ways to modernize its weapons with European technologies.' The sanctions will also include new measures against 22 Russian and foreign companies providing direct or indirect support to Russia's military and industrial complex.