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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Police arrest ‘Billboard Chris,' Christian activist in EU capital for denouncing child transgender treatments
Belgian police arrested a prominent conservative activist and an Alliance Defending Freedom International employee in the European Union capital of Brussels on Thursday while they were displaying signs opposing transgender medical treatment for kids. Chris Elston, also known as "Billboard Chris," and ADF International official Lois McLatchie Miller were detained by Brussels police while protesting gender-affirming care for children. They were released after several hours and not charged but were instructed to destroy their signs. "Chris and I were arrested for stating a simple truth in public: no child is born in the wrong body. I called the police because we were being surrounded and felt threatened. But instead of addressing the aggression of the mob, the police arrested us—two people standing peacefully with signs, open to conversation," McLatchie Miller told Fox News Digital. Marjorie Taylor Greene Pushes Bill To Punish Those Who Perform Gender Transition Measures On Minors "That this happened in the heart of Europe is deeply troubling. If speaking up for children is now grounds for arrest, then our freedom to speak the truth on any important issue is truly in danger," the ADF International employee added. Elston, well known for wearing billboards decrying transgender medical treatment for children out in public, stood out in the streets of the Belgian capital alongside McLatchie Miller. Both wore billboards, with the ADF employee's sign reading, "Children are never born in the wrong body" and Elston's reading, "Children cannot consent to puberty blockers." Read On The Fox News App According to ADF International's press release, the signs drew a crowd of onlookers, some of whom got aggressive. In a video recorded before their arrest, Elston showed Brussels police forming a ring around him and his colleague to keep onlookers from getting too close. "And we have quite a scene unfolding in Brussels, Belgium," Elston said in the recording. "We have been getting incredibly harassed for about the last hour. We've remained perfectly calm as always, having conversations about what is the greatest child abuse scandal in modern medicine history." New House Bill Would Make Trump Ban On Transgender Troops Permanent Elston continued, saying they were the ones who called the police to protect them from harassment; however, he noted that the officers then ordered them to put away their signs. "We called the police because a man was harassing and following Lois everywhere she went, trying to stop us from filming. The police have now arrived, and they've told me I have to put – and Lois – they've told us we have to put our signs away. I have refused. He said I was violating the law. I said, 'What law?' He can't name it," he said. Elston added that he was told he was going to be arrested, stating, "So I said, 'That's fine. Go ahead.'" Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture ADF International's press release stated the two were eventually arrested and taken to two separate police stations, where they were "ordered to remove their clothes and searched." They were released several hours later. In a statement, ADF International executive director Paul Coleman ripped Brussels' government for the action. "The Belgian authorities not only failed to uphold the fundamental right to speak freely, they turned the power of the state against those who were peacefully exercising their rights at the behest of a mob," he said. "This is the type of authoritarianism we challenge in other parts of the world, and it's deeply disturbing to see it here in the very heart of Europe. While we are grateful our colleague has been safely released, we are deeply concerned by her treatment at the hands of the police in Brussels," Coleman added. Fox News Digital reached out to the Belgian police for comment but did not immediately receive a article source: Police arrest 'Billboard Chris,' Christian activist in EU capital for denouncing child transgender treatments
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK man arrested for praying outside abortion clinic praises VP Vance for bringing attention to case
Vice President JD Vance left U.K. army veteran Adam Smith-Connor "incredibly surprised" after his story of being arrested for silently praying outside an abortion clinic became the focus of a defense of free speech and religious liberty on the international stage over the weekend. "I had no idea it was going to happen," Smith-Connor said Sunday on "Fox & Friends Weekend." "I'm a physiotherapist. I was treating a patient. I just had a few minutes' gap between patients… and [I learned] the vice president of America was talking about [my] case, so it was incredibly surprising, and I'm very grateful to him for highlighting this case." Smith-Connor was found guilty of breaching the local government's Public Spaces Protection Order in October, nearly two years after standing outside an abortion facility with his head bowed in silent prayer. Vance Warns The Us Will Use Sanctions, Military Action If Putin Doesn't Agree To Ukraine Peace Deal: Report He was ordered to pay £9,000 (approximately $11,330 USD) to his prosecutors as a result. Read On The Fox News App Vance highlighted the case as he blasted 'Soviet'-style European censorship in an address to European leaders at the Munich Security Conference last Friday. "The backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs," the vice president said. "A little over two years ago, the British government charged Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and an Army veteran with the heinous crime of standing 50 meters from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes, not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own." Hegseth Says He And Vance Are 'On The Same Page' Despite Vp's Remark On Us Troops In Ukraine Lois McLatchie Miller, senior legal communications officer at Alliance Defending Freedom International, informed Smith-Connor of Vance's acknowledgment through a phone call. She told "Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy that ADF International is supporting his legal defense as they seek to appeal the judgment later this year. "This intervention from Vice President Vance highlighting the case really exposes that this is the worst example of censorship in the West right now. If we cannot think thoughts in our heads on certain British streets, we have no hope for freedom anywhere else."Original article source: UK man arrested for praying outside abortion clinic praises VP Vance for bringing attention to case
Fox News
16-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
UK man arrested for praying outside abortion clinic praises VP Vance for bringing attention to case
Vice President JD Vance left U.K. army veteran Adam Smith-Connor "incredibly surprised" after his story of being arrested for silently praying outside an abortion clinic became the focus of a defense of free speech and religious liberty on the international stage over the weekend. "I had no idea it was going to happen," Smith-Connor said Sunday on "Fox & Friends Weekend." "I'm a physiotherapist. I was treating a patient. I just had a few minutes' gap between patients… and [I learned] the vice president of America was talking about [my] case, so it was incredibly surprising, and I'm very grateful to him for highlighting this case." Smith-Connor was found guilty of breaching the local government's Public Spaces Protection Order in October, nearly two years after standing outside an abortion facility with his head bowed in silent prayer. He was ordered to pay £9,000 (approximately $11,330 USD) to his prosecutors as a result. Vance highlighted the case as he blasted 'Soviet'-style European censorship in an address to European leaders at the Munich Security Conference last Friday. "The backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs," the vice president said. "A little over two years ago, the British government charged Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and an Army veteran with the heinous crime of standing 50 meters from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes, not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own." Lois McLatchie Miller, senior legal communications officer at Alliance Defending Freedom International, informed Smith-Connor of Vance's acknowledgment through a phone call. She told "Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy that ADF International is supporting his legal defense as they seek to appeal the judgment later this year. "This intervention from Vice President Vance highlighting the case really exposes that this is the worst example of censorship in the West right now. If we cannot think thoughts in our heads on certain British streets, we have no hope for freedom anywhere else."
The Guardian
15-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
JD Vance decried as extremist over attack on UK abortion clinic safe zones
JD Vance has been labelled an 'extremist' after he launched a broadside against the UK's efforts to protect women seeking an abortion. The US vice-president's criticisms of UK and Scottish policies on safe access zones around abortion clinics -part of a wide-ranging tirade against Europe on Friday - were derided as inaccurate and misogynistic by a number of groups, politicians and governments. Heidi Stewart, the chief executive of Bpas, the UK's leading provider of abortion services, said safe zones - buffer areas of 150 metres around abortion clinics designed to stop women being harassed with leaflets, shown pictures of foetuses, or having to pass by vigils - were vital to protect women's access to essential healthcare in an 'overwhelmingly pro-choice country'. 'Bpas ... will always remain proud to stand against misogynistic and anti-democratic interference with British women's reproductive rights by foreign extremists, whether they are the vice-president of the US or not,' she said. The Labour MP Stella Creasy, who campaigned for the safe zones which were introduced last year, posted a picture of a scene from the dystopian television series The Handmaid's Tale alongside with the words: 'And so it begins … ' She accused Vance of calling 'for the right to harass women having an abortion' because 'our bodies are their battleground, our human rights their target'. In Vance's speech at the Munich security conference, he said the UK had 'placed the basic liberties of religious Britons ... in the crosshairs', citing the prosecution of Adam Smith-Connor, a physiotherapist and army veteran. Vance said he had been charged with the 'heinous crime of standing 50 metres from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes, not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own'. Smith-Connor, who is receiving legal support from Alliance Defending Freedom International, a conservative Christian legal advocacy group in the US - was convicted of breaching a safe zone in October last year after refusing repeated requests to move away from outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth in November 2022. A community officer spoke to him for an hour and 40 minutes and asked him to leave, but he refused. Smith-Connor was handed a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay more than £9,000 costs after the case brought by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council. Vance also claimed the Scottish government had distributed letters to citizens whose houses lay 'within so-called safe access zones, warning them that even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law'. Shortly after his statement, a Scottish government spokesperson said: 'The vice-president's claim is incorrect. Private prayer at home is not prohibited within safe access zones and no letter has ever suggested it was.' The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) act, introduced last year, banned 'silent prayer' to prevent mass silent vigils which have been used by large groups of US pro-life protesters such as 40 Days for Life. The law states that the actions are only banned if they are likely to cause alarm or distress to someone accessing abortion services. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay, who pushed for the introduction of safe zones, said Vance was spreading 'shocking and shameless misinformation'. She said: 'He is one of the most powerful people in the world but he is peddling total nonsense and dangerous scaremongering.' The managing director for the Abortion Support Network, Camille Kumar, accused him of 'dog-whistle messaging' an an attack on 'fragile' women's rights. 'It is deeply concerning that within days of pardoning [protesters] in the US for their harassment of women and pregnant people outside abortion clinics, JD Vance is now trying to stir up anti-abortion rhetoric in the UK.' The director of the End Violence, Andrea Simon, said: 'Safe access buffer zones were introduced to ensure that women can safely access abortion services without fear of harassment. That is vital, because abortion is a fundamental healthcare right for women in the UK, which must be protected.'
The Guardian
14-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Thought crime' and cancelled elections: how do JD Vance's Europe claims stand up?
In JD Vance's confrontational and pugnacious speech at the Munich Security Conference, the vice-president ran through a series of examples to highlight his claims that Europe has gone off the rails. Here, we look at what he said – and whether it stacks up. Speaking about 'our very dear friends, the United Kingdom', Vance claimed a 'backslide away from conscience rights' had 'placed the basic liberties of religious Britons in particular in the crosshairs'. The British government, he said, had charged Adam Smith-Conner, a physiotherapist and an army veteran, with the 'heinous crime of standing 50 metres from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes, not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own'. Vance claimed that Conner told an 'unmoved' law enforcement officer that he was praying for an unborn son that he and a former girlfriend had aborted years before. 'Adam was found guilty of breaking the government's new 'buffer zones law', which criminalises silent prayer and other actions that could influence a person's decision within 200 metres of an abortion facility,' Vance said. 'He was sentenced to pay thousands of pounds in legal costs to the prosecution.' Fact check Smith-Connor was convicted of breaching a safe zone in October last year, after refusing repeated requests to move away from outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth in November 2022. The 51-year-old told the council the day before he would be carrying out a silent vigil as he had on previous occasions. On the day, a community officer spoke to him for an hour and 40 minutes and asked him to leave – but he refused. Smith-Connor was handed a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay more than £9,000 costs after the case was brought by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. Smith-Connor is receiving legal support from Alliance Defending Freedom International, an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group which states that it 'champions religious freedom through … advocacy efforts'. ADF International said it would be supporting Smith-Connor to appeal against the decision in July. Smith-Connor's case was brought after a public space protection order was introduced outside the Bournemouth clinic in October 2022, which banned activity including protests, harassment and vigils. October last year saw the introduction of the Public Order Act 2023 in England and Wales, which introduced buffer zones of 150 metres around abortion clinics to stop women being harassed with leaflets, shown pictures of foetuses, or having to pass by vigils. The Scottish government was said to have begun distributing letters to citizens whose houses lay 'within so-called safe access zones, warning them that even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law'. He went on: 'The government urged readers to report any fellow citizens suspected guilty of thought crime in Britain and across Europe.' Fact check The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act, introduced last year, introduced safe access zones within 200 metres of abortion clinics, banning harassing, alarming or distressing actions. 'Silent prayer' is listed among the banned activities to prevent mass silent vigils which have been used by large groups of US anti-abortion protesters such as 40 Days for Life who gather outside clinics to pressure women entering not to have an abortion. A Conservative US TikToker erroneously claimed that silent prayer at home could break the law in Scotland. However the law states that the actions are banned if they are likely to cause alarm or distress to someone accessing abortion services. Silent prayer in a home which caused no distress and alarm to other would not fall under this category. Vance told the Munich security conference that a former European commissioner had 'sounded delighted' that an 'entire election' in Romania had been annulled. Vance added: 'He warned that if things don't go to plan, the very same thing could happen in Germany too … But when we see European courts cancelling elections and senior officials threatening to cancel others, we ought to ask whether we're holding ourselves to an appropriately high standard.' Fact check The US vice-president was referring to comments by the former European commissioner Thierry Breton. The former French minister had been speaking after the decision by Romania's constitutional court in December to annul the early results of the country's presidential election. The court had intervened after declassified intelligence documents pointed to what was described as a massive and 'highly organised' campaign for the independent candidate Călin Georgescu, on the TikTok platform which was probably orchestrated by a 'state actor'. Georgescu has committed to stop all Romanian political and military support for Ukraine if elected. Commenting on the case, Breton had said: 'Let's keep calm and enforce our laws in Europe when they are at risk of being circumvented … We did it in Romania, and we will obviously do it if necessary in Germany.' Elon Musk intervened at the time on X, referring to 'the staggering absurdity of Thierry Breton as the tyrant of Europe'. Breton responded: 'Tyrant of Europe? Wow! But No Elon Musk: the EU has NO mechanism to nullify any election anywhere in EU. Not at all what is said in the video below related only to the application of the [Digital Services Act] and its moderation obligations. Lost in translation… or another fake news?' Vance said that in Brussels 'EU Commission commissars' had warned citizens that they intend to shut down social media during times of civil unrest at 'the moment they spot what they've judged to be 'hateful content'. In Germany, he claimed police had carried out 'raids against citizens suspected of posting anti-feminist comments online as part of 'combating misogyny' on the internet'. Fact check Under the Digital Services Act, the European Commission can ask a digital services coordinator in an EU member state to ask a judge to assess an application for a temporary restriction on access within the EU to a large online platform or search engine. The commission does also have the power to bypass the judge-led process in an 'urgent situation'. The commission has said that such an extreme measure must 'follow the due process' and 'would be limited in time'. Restrictions on services can only be enforced where there is evidence of criminal offences involving threat to people's life or safety. Should the commission use its enforcement powers, its decisions are subject to judicial redress at the European court of justice. German police carried out raids last March on the homes of people suspected of posting misogynistic hate speech on the internet, including those advocating rape or sexual assault. Police raided homes and interrogated 45 suspects in 11 states. None of the suspects were detained. Vance said 'the government' had 'convicted a Christian activist for participating in Qur'an burnings that resulted in his friend's murder'. He went on: 'And as the judge in his case chillingly noted, Sweden's laws to supposedly protect free expression do not, in fact, grant – and I'm quoting – a 'free pass' to do or say anything without risking offending the group that holds that belief.' Fact check Salwan Najem was given a suspended sentence and a fine by a court over statements he made in connection with four incidents of Qur'an burning in Stockholm. He had carried out the book burning with Salwan Momika, who was subsequently shot dead during a TikTok broadcast last month. Najem, who came to Sweden from Iraq in 1998 and has been a Swedish citizen since June 2005, told the court that his actions were legitimate criticisms of religion protected by Sweden's freedom of expression laws. Göran Lundahl, the judge in the case, said freedom of expression did not constitute a 'free pass to do or say anything'. Vance cited the recent attack in Munich as reason for a 'new direction', suggesting the attack was typical. 'An asylum seeker, often a young man in his mid-20s, already known to police, rammed a car into a crowd and shatters a community', he said. Fact check German police and prosecutors have said that an Afghan suspect in a car ramming in central Munich that injured at least 36 people was believed to have had an 'Islamist' motive and will answer to charges of attempted murder. They have not found links to a jihadist organisation such as the Islamic State group nor any accomplices. According to the latest EU terrorism situation and trend report from Europol, there were a total of 120 terrorist attacks (98 completed, nine failed and 13 foiled) in seven EU member states in 2023. The highest number of terrorist attacks were perpetrated by separatist terrorists (70, all completed), followed by leftwing and anarchist actors (32, of which 23 completed). There were 14 jihadist terrorist attacks of which five were completed. Two rightwing terrorist attacks were foiled.
