They were allowed in, but not allowed to raise the placards above their waists and no heckling. They were undoubtedly put in a dark corner behind a screen.
Signs in Center of Dispute at Rally
STEUBENVILLE - About 300 people gathered Saturday in downtown Steubenville before the visit of presidential hopeful John Kerry to express their hope that the senator will hear their voices on the subject of abortion. Group spokesperson Gabriel Hahn said the pro-lifer supporters, composed of mostly Catholics and students from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, had gathered to "stand up for life."
"We're not here to protest, we're here to stand up and challenge John Kerry to stand up for what he believes," Hahn said. "Standing up for life is the most important of all things."
Hahn noted that the group actually marched together to the site from the university, through St. Peter's Catholic Church on North Fourth Street and through the downtown area to line up along Adams Street between Third and Fourth streets, less than a block from the rally site at the Old Fort Steuben. Throughout the walk, the demonstrators sang and prayed, carrying pro-life signs.
"We're here to challenge Sen. Kerry that if he has the same faith as we have, then he needs to fully embrace the church's teachings on life," said Emily Bissonnette, one of the group organizers and a student at the university. "Just as we came here to stand up for our pro-life values, we would like him to do the same," Bissonnette added. "We're all here to stand up for our faith and our pro-life values."
She explained the group planned to wait in silent witness all day until the end of the rally to show their support of the pro-life belief. Many of the demonstrators stood, sat and kneeled in prayer as they said the rosary and other prayers and sang hymns. Franciscan student Kerry Franklin, who also helped organize the demonstration, said all those in the group felt very strongly about taking the opportunity to send a message to Kerry that they want him to take the position taught in the Catholic faith.
"We're asking him to be a man of his word, and as a Roman Catholic, his word has to be pro-life," Franklin said.
Meanwhile, Kerry campaign officials and local law enforcement officers briefly debated over whether anti-abortion protesters could be allowed into the rally for Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. John Kerry on Saturday afternoon.
About 250-300 of the demonstrators began lining up at about 1 p.m., between Third and Fourth streets on Adams Street, about a block from the Kerry rally site. The general public was not scheduled to be allowed into the rally site until 3 p.m.
An official with the Kerry campaign, who declined to be identified, approached law enforcement officers at Adams and Third streets and informed them that the protesters would not be allowed into the event. Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla told the Kerry campaign officials that his office is in control of security matters.
"We handle security," Abdalla said. "Nobody else does. I'm not going to let you people start a damn argument," Abdalla said. "They have a right to protest."
However, a Kerry official contended that the protesters would not be allowed inside the private rally which was open only to those with tickets. "Not inside the event," an unidentified Kerry official said.
"They have a right to do whatever they want to do as long as they don't interfere," Abdalla countered.
Another Kerry official said that there has been a designated area for protesters congregate at other Kerry events around the country. Capt. Joel Walker of the Steubenville police said there were no Kerry campaign representatives at the meetings that were held on security matters. He said such an area for protesters should have been set up by the Kerry campaign prior to the event.
"You didn't approach us," Walker said. "If people show up and they cause a disturbance, we'll remove them."
A Kerry official told Walker and Abdalla that signs and personal items are not allowed into the event. Tickets for the event are printed with the words, "No Signs. Please Limit Personal Items," printed on the bottom. A Kerry official said signs would not be permitted in the event site area.
"I'm going to tell you right now, if any of your people starts an altercation you're going to jail," Abdalla said to the Kerry official. "This will be the first rally I've seen without signs."
After 10 minutes of discussion, the meeting with Abdalla, Walker and Kerry officials ended with the apparent understanding that demonstrators would be allowed into the event but would have to leave any signs they were carrying outside the event site.
Abdalla later said that he would abide by the request of the Kerry campaign officials to not allow signs to be carried into the event. "Law enforcement is going to say (to the demonstrators), 'leave it there, you can pick it up on the way out,'" Abdalla said. "We want (Kerry) to come in and get his message out and we don't want to arrest anybody over a sign," Abdalla said. Wheeling News-Register