Police Apologize After Driver of Truck with Graphic Abortion Images Ordered to Leave Town

Life Site News ^

[Coleus]

OLATHE, Kansas, April 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Chief of Police Janet Thiessen of Olathe, Kansas, has issued a personal apology to Ronald Brock, who was ordered to leave town by Sgt. David Haldeman on Tuesday evening or face arrest. Brock was driving a vehicle with photographs of victims of abortion and victims of the Jewish Holocaust of World War II.

Haldeman has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into the incident. Brock confirmed that he received a personal phone call from Chief Thiessen who apologized to him for the incident.   Operation Rescue President Troy Newman received an e-mail correspondence from Chief Thiessen who informed him that an apology had been made and that her officers would be receiving additional training so incidents like this would not happen again.

Sgt. Haldeman had told Brock in a conversation that Brock recorded that he must, "Leave our city, cover it [the signs] up, or be charged, and if you are charged we are probably going to impound the vehicle. So those are your three choices, but leaving this lot is not going isn't going to be sufficient in the city of Olathe."

Chief Thiessen told Newman, "I have personally expressed my regret to Mr. Brock, and apologized on behalf of the Olathe Police Department. At times, the line between what is protected free speech and what may be considered obscene can be difficult to distinguish, but it is my responsibility to ensure all Olathe officers clearly understand the law as it is written and correctly apply that law. Based on yesterday's incident, we have begun providing additional training to all sworn officers to help avoid future incidents of a similar nature."

"We very much appreciate that Chief Thiessen took immediate action to issue an apology and remedy the problem with her officers," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "Violations of the First Amendment are very serious, because it is one of the strongest protections for a free society. We look forward to returning to Olathe with our Truth Trucks and trust that we will be able to conduct our First Amendment activities without further impediment."

[dayglored]

> Actually, it was not a photoshop job.

Thank you for the correction.

> Little Sam Armas would be 8 years old now...

Ah, then the photo was not of an abortion, but of a live birth, presumably a C-section? If so, wonderful!

[dayglored]

> ...the photo was not of an abortion, but of a live birth, presumably a C-section?

Correction to self -- it was an in-utero operation. Sorry for not reading the Snopes page before replying.

[Gondring]

Correction to self -- it was an in-utero operation. Sorry for not reading the Snopes page before replying.

:-)

I think that the idea of an in-utero operation is, itself, a very anti-abortion point.

Agree?

[dayglored]

> I think that the idea of an in-utero operation is, itself, a very anti-abortion point. Agree?

Yep.

My friend who delivered yesterday had many medical problems, including some that threatened her pregnancy -- the doctors advised her early on that she had at best a 50/50 chance of carrying to term. And that even if she did, the medication that she was taking for her conditions (Grave's disease, trigeminal neuralgia, hyper-thyroid, etc.) could adversely affect her baby.

She opted to cut her own medication, change her diet and habits, and suffer the severe pain, rather than risk the health of her baby. She had a very rough 2nd and 3rd trimester. I was very proud of her strength and forbearance.

When I saw that her newborn son was perfect in all respects, I cried for happiness.

The idea of an in-utero operation is fabulous, and a terrific point in the argument against abortion.

[Walkingfeather]

“At times, the line between what is protected free speech and what may be considered obscene can be difficult to distinguish, ...”

So if murder was in private that would be okay......

[Republic_of_Secession.]

This is the reason for the first Amendment.

[Gondring]

This is the reason for the first Amendment.

Uh, nope.

[endthematrix]

Transcript of recorded conversation with Olathe Police and Truth Truck driver Ron Brock

7:36 pm Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Sergeant David Haldeman Badge # 751: … Leave our city, cover it up, or be charged, and if you are charged we are probably going to impound the vehicle. So those are your three choices, but leaving this lot is not going isn’t going to be sufficient in the city of Olathe.

Brock: Ok.

Sergeant David Haldeman Badge # 751: If I catch you driving up and down Santa Fe twenty minutes from now you are going to be charged.

Brock: OK, I just got through leaving the courthouse and I didn’t have any trouble with the police there. They found it to be completely legal.

Sergeant David Haldeman Badge # 751: Well, now you do. The county has different ordinances than we do. I am just simply telling you…

Brock: I’ll be charged with…

Sergeant David Haldeman Badge # 751: Promoting obscenity

Brock: Promoting obscenity?

Sergeant David Haldeman Badge # 751: Yup? Ok? Got that one clear?

Brock: Yes. I am talking with Sergeant?

Sergeant David Haldeman Badge # 751: You are talking with Sergeant Haldeman. You understand where we are at now?

Brock: OK, now, I’ve got to leave the city or I’ll be charged with obscenity because of the pictures of abortion on here…

Sergeant David Haldeman Badge # 751: Yes.

Brock: OK, you consider pictures of aborted babies…

Sergeant David Haldeman Badge # 751: I told you, I told you once that I am not going to debate this issue.

Brock: OK

Sergeant David Haldeman Badge # 751: Those are your choices. You make them; you live with the results, OK?

Brock: OK.

Sergeant David Haldeman Badge # 751: Good enough.
End of call.

[endthematrix]

Being able to speak freely without censorship?

[Gondring]

That is such great news about the woman who delivered yesterday! Congratulations to her for enduring the struggles and delivering!

You know, another thing comes to mind. I have an in-law who has passed out at even the mention of blood. Many municipalities have rules against distracting signs, to prevent accidents. I guess Troy Newman doesn’t care about creating unsafe conditions, but I can imagine the police might.

[Gondring]

Yes, the “obscenity” part was the error. It isn’t “obscene.” There are other laws he was breaking, but not that one.

[dayglored]

> That is such great news about the woman who delivered yesterday! Congratulations to her for enduring the struggles and delivering!

Thanks, I'll pass your kind words along to her.

> You know, another thing comes to mind. I have an in-law who has passed out at even the mention of blood. Many municipalities have rules against distracting signs, to prevent accidents. I guess Troy Newman doesn’t care about creating unsafe conditions, but I can imagine the police might.

Yep. Incredibly distracting and upsetting to any normal person, I'd say. Great way to cause an accident.

It seems like a real bad idea to put ANY huge gruesome pictures on the side of a truck. I wonder how Troy Newman thinks the aborted-baby pictures are acceptable for trucks. How about Islamist beheadings? How about the picture of Sharon Tate after she was murdered? How about a steaming pile of dog crap? How about a python half-devouring a cuddly puppy? ...

The abortion truck is in such awful, abominably bad taste that it works strongly in the wrong direction.

[TNdandelion]

I agree.

[kingu]

It seems like a real bad idea to put ANY huge gruesome pictures on the side of a truck. I wonder how Troy Newman thinks the aborted-baby pictures are acceptable for trucks. How about Islamist beheadings? How about the picture of Sharon Tate after she was murdered? How about a steaming pile of dog crap? How about a python half-devouring a cuddly puppy? ...

How about pictures of soldiers torn apart by IEDs? I can just see an anti-war group using that for their next protest.

But that would spark outrage on this forum, whereas people cheer this truck. Makes me sick.

[MarkL]

There’s been a similar truck driving around the industrial park where I work, in Overland Park, KS, (Corporate Woods) but it’s not the same truck.

Something that’s very annoying about it (besides the photos) is that the driver rarely uses turn signals.

Mark

[Wpin]

That is what happened in Nazi Germany, putting your head in the sand is the same as a moral justification of the horror.

[chargers fan]

Gotta agree. While I'm as Pro-Life as the next Freeper (and thought the message about it on this week's South Park was excellent), I don't think driving around with these graphic images would do anything to convince people our side was right.

[Ajnin]

I’ve noticed you don’t respond to anyone calling abortion murder. Personally I think it’s counter productive to call people that have gotten abortions murderers. However, I wonder why you don’t defend yourself.

[A.A. Cunningham]

The truth is always so inconvenient for simpletons like you.

[Manly Warrior]

You agree with the one-sided application of constitutionally protected rights we possess?

The issue, I think, is not whether horrible photos of a dismembered human child (pre-born) is hard to look at (it is). The results of this shameful pratice should be out in the open; the effect may be more profound than one may think.

The issue may rather be the US courts say this dead, murdered child is not even considered human or alive by the current opinion of our SCOTUS or society in general.

A few years ago, while driving with our children, we saw a similar sign-it did indeed “gross out” our three then early-to-mid-teen children, it also prompted an indepth discussion about the value of human life, the current societal and political issues and the position we as Christian parents and citizens held.

It may well have been an epiphany to at least one of our children-he pledged his conscience to defending the unborn and now as a senior in college, he demonstrates a strong and healthy attitude toward standing against the the tide of humanism and “anti-life” that is rampant on his campus and in our society.

Our girls (now young adult women) are strong in thier faith and articulate in thier expression of the love for life, of unborn children to the aged; God is the author of life.

I know of quite a few peers who have expressed similar outcomes when these “Rescue trucks” are encountered.

I also agree that pictures of other content (a happy couple with a baby bouncing on a knee, pregnant woman gracefully carressing her belly with a motherly glow etc are appropriate as well.

It is after a culture war, one tactic alone does not win a battle, let alone a war.

God Bless