{"id":213712,"date":"2019-11-10T10:30:59","date_gmt":"2019-11-10T16:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=213712"},"modified":"2019-11-25T19:27:03","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T01:27:03","slug":"man-arrested-praying-abortion-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/man-arrested-praying-abortion-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Man arrested while praying outside a UK abortion facility"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A 29-year-old man in a wheelchair was arrested in the United Kingdom while\u00a0praying outside of an abortion facility<\/a>. Christian Hacking was accused of violating a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) outside a Marie Stopes facility in London, the first buffer zone in the United Kingdom. However, their case quickly dissolved as, according to the Crown Prosecution Services, there was not “enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.”<\/p>\n

When Hacking asked police what he was doing wrong, they told him he was in violation of the court order. Hacking asked, “So it’s a criminal offence to pray, according to the court order, it’s a criminal offence to pray outside of a place where children are being killed?” The officer then responded, “I believe that I’ve given you the answer.”<\/p>\n

They then ordered Hacking to stand up so they could arrest him, a shockingly ableist demand. “I can\u2019t stand up, I\u2019m in a wheelchair,” Hacking answered. “I\u2019m not moving, I\u2019m praying. I\u2019m not going to capitulate to your demands. I am allowed to pray here. This earth was the Lord\u2019s before it was Ealing Council\u2019s.\u201d Police then lifted him and carried him into the police van, without telling him what he was being charged with.<\/p>\n

Bodycam footage showed the entire arrest.<\/p>\n