Anti-abortion rally in Toronto gets ugly
An anti-abortion rally turned violent this past Sunday when a woman was roundhouse kicked by a man at the corner of Bloor and Keele.
Around 76 people gathered at the intersection on Sunday afternoon for Life Chain, an annual anti-abortion protest held simultaneously across the country at over 200 locations.
Young women are being assaulted in the streets of #Toronto just for having a controversial opinion?
— Show The Truth (@STTactivism) October 3, 2018
If we don't speak up about the trend of normalizing violence against pro-lifers, then it will never stop.https://t.co/wPHbwYosOB#cdnpoli #TOpoli #ProLife
There was also a couple of pro-choice protestors (who were not affiliated with the attacker) counter-rallying peacefully against the Life Chain crowd on the same corner.
At around 2:30 p.m., a man with lip piercings and a purple zip-up hoodie approached the groups and allegedly used red and blue markers to deface protestors' anti-abortion signs, at one point even scribbling on their clothing.
SICK: Just now a pro-abortion advocate roundhouse kicked a young pro-life woman from @clcyouthprolife in Toronto
— Devin Sena (@DevinSenaUI) October 3, 2018
He has not yet been found, RT!! pic.twitter.com/k1XlXBCVRP
He also approached the counter-protestors, who can be seen in the video deflecting his approaches.
Organizer Marie-Claire Bissonette began to record the altercation on her phone and in the video, the man can be seen winding up for his attack before roundhouse kicking Bissonette in the shoulder, causing her to drop the phone on the ground.
@TorontoComms // woman with pro life sign assaulted & the police would not even exit their car - shameful !
— Von Beasley ❌ (@vonbeasley) October 3, 2018
Police were called to the scene shortly afterwards, but the man—who told Bissonette he had meant to kick the phone but missed—had already fled the scene, heading east on Bloor.
According to Bisonette's write-up on the incident for the pro-life website LifeSiteNews, policemen "rolled down their window but did not exit their vehicle" after arriving to the intersection.
The man has yet to be found, though the video has been circulated widely on social media.
