Before he stormed the Capitol, ex-W.Va. lawmaker harassed women at an abortion clinic

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Before he stormed the Capitol, ex-W.Va. lawmaker harassed women at an abortion clinic

By Samantha Schmidt and Caroline Kitchener
1/16/2021, 6:00:00 a.m.

Derrick Evans walked with his phone out in front of him, camera facing forward, as he advanced on the patient in the abortion clinic parking lot. Surrounding the car, clinic volunteers tried to shield the patient with umbrellas and their own bodies. It was no use: On this February morning in 2019, Evans captured the patient on Facebook live, streaming to tens of thousands of followers.

“You will not do this in secret in West Virginia,” Evans said. He wore a “Make America Great Again” hat, as he did every week when he protested outside the Women’s Health Center, the only abortion clinic left in the state.

Evans was a fixture at the clinic for much of 2019, with a reputation for harassment so severe that the clinic erected a 10-foot fence to deter him. A volunteer escort obtained a restraining order against him, accusing him of stalking her. When Evans was around — often accompanied by dozens of supporters — women would cry in the waiting room, said clinic patient Hunter Crites, afraid they’d be identified and screamed at as soon as they stepped outside.

By the time Evans set foot in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, he had amassed over 32,000 followers on Facebook — and enough votes in the 2020 election to win him a seat in the West Virginia legislature. Everywhere he went — the abortion clinic, Black Lives Matter protests, drag brunches — Evans brought along his phone, and his following, doing what he could to shame and agitate the people around him.

On Jan. 6, those followers cheered him on as the state lawmaker joined a pro-Trump mob pushing its way into the U.S. Capitol, chanting, “Whose house? Our House!” Wearing a helmet, Evans told the viewers of his live stream that he had been pepper sprayed in the eye, but was marching forward anyway.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/16/derrick-evans-abortion-clinic/

[Ohiogal]

1. Wow

This asshole is a real piece of work. What kind of people elect these vile extremists?

[Cracklin Charlie]

2. I got harassed at Planned Parenthood years ago.

I had stopped to use a pay phone to call my boss. The clinic wasn’t even open yet.

A guy comes up behind me in a grim reaper outfit, and starts mumbling some nonsense. I said, “Get away from me, freak, or the next call I make is to the police”.

He walked away grumbling. There are men who get off on scaring women.

[Lucky Luciano]

3. Three years ago, I was walking near the Planned Parenthood in the East Village of NYC...

...there was a lone woman outside protesting...I asked her name...I walked inside the PP and made a $50 donation in her name...I came out to tell her I did this. I said, “we should do this again sometime. When will you be back?”

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

4. If Shitstain gets his mommy to bail him out

people should be jeering outside their trailer nonstop.