Richmond Times Dispatch
Olympia Meola
Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond, tonight spoke out against the arrests of 31 women's rights demonstrators in a protest at the state Capitol earlier today that drew Virginia State Police in riot gear.
She said the arrests "are just the latest example of government overreach that we’ve seen in recent weeks."
"The men and women who marched on Capitol Square have a right to peacefully protest without the threat that they will be arrested for exercising that right," McQuinn said in a news release. "At several recent women’s rights events, there has been an overabundance of police presence. In fact, the Capitol Police tactical team has been at all of the events," she said.
McQuinn said she had "never seen a similar police presence when guns rights advocates assemble on Capitol Square on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday."
McQuinn called the arrests "a sad reminder that our progress towards equality for all Virginians has not been achieved.”
(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below. Read more in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch.)
5:20 p.m.
Thirty-one women's-rights demonstrators were arrested this afternoon in a protest at the state Capitol that drew hundreds of protesters and Virginia State Police in riot gear.
Capt. Raymond Goodloe of the Virginia Division of Capitol Police said 17 women and 14 men were arrested. He did not have a breakdown on charges but said those arrested were likely accused of either trespassing or unalawful assembly.
The arrests took place after some protesters, who had marched on downtown streets before entering Capitol Square, refused to leave the south steps of the Capitol. They were hauled off by officers and taken away in a bus parked nearby while other armed officers held protesters at bay with riot shields.
The demonstration came after the General Assembly approved hotly disputed legislation that requires women to have an ultrasound before getting an abortion.
Shelley Abrams, who runs a local abortion clinic, spoke to the crowd this morning before the march. She said she had an abortion and has never regretted her decision.
"Being in a clinic, people have no idea how many people get abortions," she said. "Your sisters are getting them, your mothers. There's a stigma of shame around that and I want that to go away and it starts with people saying, ''I had an abortion.'"
Urbanna resident Louise Friday said legislators are "taking us back to another time with their rules and trying to, in a sneaky way, prohibit women from using contraceptives."
Olympia Meola
Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond, tonight spoke out against the arrests of 31 women's rights demonstrators in a protest at the state Capitol earlier today that drew Virginia State Police in riot gear.
She said the arrests "are just the latest example of government overreach that we’ve seen in recent weeks."
"The men and women who marched on Capitol Square have a right to peacefully protest without the threat that they will be arrested for exercising that right," McQuinn said in a news release. "At several recent women’s rights events, there has been an overabundance of police presence. In fact, the Capitol Police tactical team has been at all of the events," she said.
McQuinn said she had "never seen a similar police presence when guns rights advocates assemble on Capitol Square on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday."
McQuinn called the arrests "a sad reminder that our progress towards equality for all Virginians has not been achieved.”
(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. Earlier updates are posted below. Read more in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch.)
5:20 p.m.
Thirty-one women's-rights demonstrators were arrested this afternoon in a protest at the state Capitol that drew hundreds of protesters and Virginia State Police in riot gear.
Capt. Raymond Goodloe of the Virginia Division of Capitol Police said 17 women and 14 men were arrested. He did not have a breakdown on charges but said those arrested were likely accused of either trespassing or unalawful assembly.
The arrests took place after some protesters, who had marched on downtown streets before entering Capitol Square, refused to leave the south steps of the Capitol. They were hauled off by officers and taken away in a bus parked nearby while other armed officers held protesters at bay with riot shields.
The demonstration came after the General Assembly approved hotly disputed legislation that requires women to have an ultrasound before getting an abortion.
Shelley Abrams, who runs a local abortion clinic, spoke to the crowd this morning before the march. She said she had an abortion and has never regretted her decision.
"Being in a clinic, people have no idea how many people get abortions," she said. "Your sisters are getting them, your mothers. There's a stigma of shame around that and I want that to go away and it starts with people saying, ''I had an abortion.'"
Urbanna resident Louise Friday said legislators are "taking us back to another time with their rules and trying to, in a sneaky way, prohibit women from using contraceptives."
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