The city of Nashville is located in Tennessee. A federal judge in Tennessee has extended a restraining order against 10 anti- abortion activists and all members of Operation Save America, ordering them not to interfere with patients and providers at a reproductive health clinic outside of Nashville.
According to court documents, the protesters tried to enter the clinic twice last week during a national conference of Operation Save America.
Three people entered the building. The complaint states that carafem tried to get into the clinic by posing as patients. One of them, Bevelyn Williams, said on a video that the trio would terrorize the building if it wasn't allowed inside. She said the three were going to take the entire building down. Also with Williams were two other people.
Patients and staff hid in a locked room after the clinic went into lock down. According to Metro Nashville Police, the three were arrested for refusing to comply with multiple warnings to leave the property, and were subsequently arrested for being on the premises. Court records show that Rickey Williams had a gun.
Three people could not be reached for comment. A number listed for Bevelyn Williams was not answered on Wednesday.
The three people arrested are not associated with the organization, according to the national director. The protests were lawful according to Storms.
Storms and a group of other people are accused of trying to enter the building on July 26. They were stopped by security at the doors but refused to leave the building. Matthew Brock told police that the group had men who were willing to do what needed to be done.
The group was trying to find out if the clinic was performing abortions in defiance of the law. In Tennessee, abortion is currently banned at six weeks, but a law is expected to go into effect on August 25 that will ban all abortions statewide except in cases when the procedure is necessary to prevent the pregnant woman's death or serious impairment of a major bodily function. Doctors could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if it were passed.
Brock told the officers that if the law is not enforced, they have people who will. He said that the group did not blockade doors and people were entering and exiting the building.
The protesters violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and the clinic filed for a restraining order. An order that was granted by a federal judge in Nashville was set to expire on August 5. The order was extended until August 12 and a hearing will be held that day to decide if further action is necessary.
Several of the protesters have been taken into custody. The New York attorney general filed a lawsuit against Bevelyn Williams and Chavannes, accusing them of threatening violence against patients and staff and barring patients from entering a clinic. The pair agreed to a buffer zone around the clinic's entrances and faced a fine if they violated it.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
