Truth Truck Returns to Gwinnett County -- Police Hide in Offices
by Staff
December 10, 2007
LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia, (christiansunite.com) -- Operation Rescue President Troy Newman drove the Truth Truck to the Gwinnett County Police Station on Saturday to hand-deliver a letter from the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) only to find the doors to the station locked. Efforts to get police to open the doors so the letter could be delivered failed."We rang the doorbell and knocked on the door, but no one would answer. We could see there were police inside, but none would come to the door. It was really bizarre behavior, in my opinion," said Newman.
Finally, two officers in a patrol car arrived, accepted the letter, and left the scene.
The letter was in response to the arrest over Thanksgiving weekend of Truth Truck driver Bob Rothlisberger, the impound of the Truth Truck, and the destruction of signs and mounting hardware by police. In the letter, attorney Jim Henderson of the ACLJ spent twelve pages explaining in detail to Gwinnett County Police why their officers acted improperly during the incident. Reimbursement of costs and an apology were requested.
Newman was accompanied by Rev. Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, Peter Shinn of Pro- life Unity, and members of the Mount Zion Christian Church in Durham, North Carolina.
Police had earlier threatened to arrest anyone who might continue to drive the Truth Truck, adorned with photographs of aborted babies, in Gwinnett County, but later backed down from that threat. Newman and the other pro-lifers drove through the county without incident.
"We were left to wonder what would happen if the Truth Truck were to encounter Gwinnett County Police on the road without the media present," said Newman. "Would they again arrest our people and slash our signs? We just don't know. Currently there are no guarantees that the First Amendment protections will be respected here."
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.
