The “mob” is not just some right-wing media buzzword that we use to further stereotypes, and I learned that reality at a Roe v. Wade protest at the Arizona State Capitol on Tuesday evening.
While it was likely only going to be people protesting the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade, my friend organized a modest counterprotest for pro-lifers. It was encouraging to see a small but mighty group of mostly young people rise to the occasion.
There were other small cohorts of pro-life protesters, and they quickly formed one group that was unfortunately vastly outnumbered. For the bulk of the protests, things were relatively peaceful. Still, two men were arrested, one for alleged assault and the other for alleged disorderly conduct, Fox 10 Phoenix reported.
A man is shouting at pro-life protesters asking them their stance on guns pic.twitter.com/FbXDGZYe3j
— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) May 4, 2022
Once the left-wing protesters marched around the perimeter of the Capitol, they began to encircle the pro-life protesters once they had the opportunity to speak with local news, which they clearly did not like.
Here’s a video that I took, and my friend Clay Robinson posted, of how they treated the pro-lifer protesters while being interviewed:
This is why we’re here, to show the other side exists and that we are the silent majority: pic.twitter.com/8qKuhQTR9b
— clay robinson (@claynrobinson) May 4, 2022
The scene intensified shortly afterward, and I made the choice to start taking videos and photos of everything around me. People were antagonizing each other, and leftists frequently tried to engage in bad faith arguments which would evolve into pure shouting mid-interaction.
It felt surreal, as I’d never seen that level of hostility and anger concentrated in one location. While there certainly was some absurdity coming from the pro-life side, there honestly were not enough people counter-protesting to play the “both sides” card for this specific situation.
Rage descended onto the pro-lifers, and they became the center of attention for having the backbone to disagree publicly. Once again, this is based on my personal account of the protest, and I’m sure there are nuances to this that I did not witness.
Shortly after the interview, we were surrounded by the crowd: pic.twitter.com/krYW8qAYhQ
— clay robinson (@claynrobinson) May 4, 2022
It’s a tense scene here at the Arizona State Capitol tonight, to say the least. pic.twitter.com/B7WCD5fCPa
— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) May 4, 2022
As many of the pro-life protesters decided to exit their encirclement, the left-wing protesters started to scream so loudly that I was genuinely concerned I was going to lose my hearing. It was nothing short of an attempt to intimidate and dehumanize political dissidents.
While it’s easy to lose one’s faith in humanity in scenes like this, thankfully these protests rarely reflect how the general population feels about an issue. They could take a similar stance, but it takes a certain type of passion to bring someone out to protest.
Source: PJ Media
