Pro-life video of the day: Pro-choice prof’s disorderly conduct
by LauraLoo
WARNING: Profanity.
As posted on Campus Reform:
A professor at a New York public university was arrested this past Monday after cursing out a pro-life display which was set up by conservative activists on campus.
The incident, which was captured in its entirety on camera and posted to YouTube Monday, depicts SUNY at Buffalo adjunct-instructor Laura Curry repeatedly cursing at police officers and activists in an emotional altercation near a display of graphic photos of aborted babies.
“But that isn’t profane but the word f*** is?” she asked a UB campus police officer who was attempting to calm her.
“What is the difference between that image and me saying f***? What is the difference?”
An official with the University of Buffalo Police Department confirmed to Campus Reform late Tuesday afternoon that the instructor was arrested on Monday and charged with disorderly conduct.
UPDATE: 6p: Well, the video has been removed from YouTube for copyright infringement. But you can view it at Mediaite.
[HT: Jill]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
The video is only available at the Campus Reform site apparently.
It seems like that professor needs our prayers. :(
Good! She got what she deserved!
I’m confused. I was under the impression that you actually have to be smart to become a professor.
“I’m confused. I was under the impression that you actually have to be smart to become a professor.”
Not any more… one just has to possess the politically correct yet shallow world view (Bush bad, Obama good; guns bad, abortion good; etc).
Aside from how she is acting…this is how professors dress these days???? i went to a college that had a dress code for students AND faculty. When you dress professionally it lends an air of studiousness. The way your body is dressed affects your mind. When you are dressed for play your mind wants to wander. When you are dressed to work you…well work. Not only that but college should prepare you for a future career and most careers expect you to dress professionally.
Anyhow, thats what jumped out at me in this video (besides the ranting)
It is quite possible that this woman has had an abortion in her past. What’s interesting is that when people in general react this way to the graphic images of abortion, they tend to be angry at the image.
The question we must answer is, what is “profane?” The image itself, or what’s IN the image (what the image actually portrays)?
Almost every pro abort I have ever come across is like the rest of the sheeple in this country. Once their head is extracted from the sand long enough to see what reality truly looks like, their body go through uncontrollable fits of culture shock/deprogramming as exemplified by cursing, flailing their arms and legs, finger pointing, yelling, screaming and similar behavior.
Yes. Yes, it is profane, shocking, disgusting, horrible, etc. … and therefore very effective. People SHOULD be offended by it.
Nothing like watching full grown adults pitch a fit and scream at authorities like an overly-emotional 14 year old girl to make my day just a little more amusing.
She might possibly be post abortive.
Time to look inward and own your anger professor.
The photos are disgusting because abortion is disgusting.
Just another day at the office. Thousands like this unfortunate person are seething with anger at the site of prolifers and their protests and displays. HeatherG is right about the likelihood of an abortion in her past.
Oh yes more than likely she’s post abortive. We get the worst abuse protesting in the suburbs. Upper class white women would slam on their breaks and jump out of their cars to pick a bone. One of the most common things we would hear the most was “Aaaaagh children will see this!” Graphic abortion signs. Oh I’m sorry I didn’t know you cared about children or you just might wish to remark about the giant sign I was holding of the fetal head. No diversion is an all time favorite of theirs. WOW I have never seen such an angry bunch in my life!
Every time we went to PP in the burbs it was like going to war. We were swarmed by the police who could do absolutely nothing to get us to leave. They would call 911 and city hall to try to get us to leave only to be told by the police that we had every right to be there. One woman started screaming like a hysterical wildcat about how the display was damaging to children so we simply responded “Help us get PP out of here and we will go home.” But Ooooooh nooooo they wanted PP to remain. They just don’t want to see what they’ve done!
One of the main leaders of the group got an email that went a little something like this “Dear Mr.Sokal Id like you to know that last evening I was taking my girlfriend out to dinner when we passed your repulsive abortion display. As a result of this my girlfriend became so ill she had to vomit. Thank you for ruining our evening. I am personally outraged at this. Sincerely …whatever his name was. One of the cleaner emails….lol
On the topic of the graphic images used to protest abortion as a pro life mom who has never had an abortion I don’t think they should be used in public around children. It is the hardest thing in the world to explain to a five year old about that picture she saw that gave her nightmares. It takes their innocence away a little bit when they are exposed to very adult things like graphic sex and/or death. Let kids be kids and keep the grizzly photos out of their sight if possible please.
Oh in my above post should have added they never made it to their dinner.
Laura…no!
Laura stop using my tax dollars to pay for abortion or get out there and protest against our tax dollars used to murder children. Until then I will do as I wish!
I agree with you, Laura.
I don’t think that using the f-word is likely to show anyone the humanity of abortion victims and the inhumanity of their victimization. Graphic signs do. Got it, Laura Curry?
If not, perhaps you might want to do some discernment warmup exercises; distinguishing between your elbow and a hole in the ground, etc.
Laura,
Children KNOW something horrible happened in those photos. It is up to you to reassure them that you are doing everything you can to end it!
And parents never answer me when I ask WHEN is the “right” time to show your children exactly what abortion does to innocent human beings?
I was once told that pro choice people don’t have an issue with a sign that says abortion kills and so on. I’m not giving in to what those selfish people want. Why should I? My tax dollars my choice. Stop abortion and I will be happy to rip up my sign and throw it away. Until then TOO BAD!! They obviously work.
“What is the difference between that image and me saying f***? What is the difference?”
Well, since you asked: The difference is that one shows grave injustice committed by others, while the other is disrespecting officers of the peace.
Good job making a scene like a one year old who was told to put his favorite toy away. Well done.
I saw images like this as a child, and my parents took the time to explain to me what was going on. It definitely disturbed me, but I was not agitated at the sign holders but rather at the ”doctors” who would cut up children for money.
I agreed with her being arrested up until I actually watched the video. That was a really non-newsworthy rant. She was relatively calm. And as disrespectful as swearing is you should definitely not be arrested for it. Frankly, in a society where you can get arrested for swearing it seems almost less outrageous to get arrested for putting pictures of dead babies in a school. If one is alright then it seems the other should be too and if one is punishable by law then the other should be too. It would be a different matter if she was trying to physically attack someone, but dealing with upset people is a part of working with the public. As a lifeguard I have to deal with people being that upset about having to leave the pool when we are closed, I don’t call the police about that.
“And parents never answer me when I ask WHEN is the “right” time to show your children exactly what abortion does to innocent human beings?”
I’ve answered you before!
“I agreed with her being arrested up until I actually watched the video. That was a really non-newsworthy rant. She was relatively calm. And as disrespectful as swearing is you should definitely not be arrested for it. ”
Yeah, if swearing can get you arrested I’m totally screwed. I didn’t see much in the video that would mean that she needed to be arrested. I would just escort someone off the premises for causing a scene like that. If they refused to go or became violent and aggressive, cops might be needed, but I don’t think swearing and arguing is a cause for arrest. But, it’s really up to the property owner to involve cops. I doubt the charges will stick, they’ll either get dropped or she’ll plead out and get a diversion.
Amen Eric!!
If it were pics of mutilated puppies ALL would wonder WHO DID THAT TO THOSE PUPPIES?? Not be angry at those that held the pics.
Jack,
And what did you say?
That it’s up to the parents to decide when they believe it’s appropriate. I’ll figure I’ll go over it with my kids when they are like ten or eleven.
Carla: I think post-abortive women can be very sensitive to those pictures because they bring back memories of being scared and feeling guilty. You could hear the Professors voice start to crack when she was saying that the pictures offended her. I think it’s important to have compassion for these women as well. It’s important to feel compassion everyone, not just for fetus’, embryos and people who agree with you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH-cBueyB58
And as disrespectful as swearing is you should definitely not be arrested for it.
The Campus Reform article goes into more details about the incident: She was cursing at our activists and poking a pro-life student incessantly.
She needed to go to jail.
She needed to go to jail for poking and talking? Look guys, this lady is obviously hurting and I think it’s important to at least try and see things from her point of view.
If she actually laid hands on someone she needed to be arrested. I didn’t see it in the video but if that happened she needed to be arrested. You can’t touch people in an aggressive way and not face consequences. I think she needs some help.
Sandra said, It would be a different matter if she was trying to physically attack someone, but dealing with upset people is a part of working with the public. As a lifeguard I have to deal with people being that upset about having to leave the pool when we are closed, I don’t call the police about that.
Then she said, She needed to go to jail for poking and talking? Look guys, this lady is obviously hurting and I think it’s important to at least try and see things from her point of view.
Look Sandra, Where do you work that folks get that upset at pool closing time? LOL. Would you be okay if those people who don’t want to leave the pool follow you around and repeatedly poke you while saying over and over, “I don’t f*cking want to leave!” I think it would be important for you to at least see things from their point of view and tolerate this behavior. Don’t you?
Get real or get well.
Carla is particularly compassionate to post-abortive women, but I realize that this one thread may not illustrate that.
I do think post-abortive women need healing, and that’s an understatement. I think bitterness and unresolved feelings are what drives so many post-abortive women to pressure their daughters and granddaughters to abort. In my family, it’s like they can’t rest until they can drive someone else to do the same thing. And, I’ve observed, the babies seem to know. One of our post-abortive family members tragically likes babies after their born but they don’t like her! I think they remember her shrieking at their mothers to abort. I have enough trouble wrestling with one past abortion; I can’t even fathom having to live with multiple.
Praxedes: I work at a pool and if they followed me around there’s always security or even the police that can escort them out of the building. You shouldn’t go to jail for swearing and poking someone. I know it can be extremely difficult for pro-life people to have to put up with upset people swearing at them, that’s not something that can be tolerated, but it shouldn’t land you in prison.
Ninek: I didn’t see any other threads for a while, I’m really sorry if I got the wrong impression. I certainly agree that post-abortive women need healing. I’m really sorry for your loss, it is truly terrible that people in your family are so scared they need to put others through the same pain that they experienced.
“Praxedes: I work at a pool and if they followed me around there’s always security or even the police that can escort them out of the building. You shouldn’t go to jail for swearing and poking someone. I know it can be extremely difficult for pro-life people to have to put up with upset people swearing at them, that’s not something that can be tolerated, but it shouldn’t land you in prison. ”
You can’t use physical force/touch someone in a threatening manner or verbally threaten them without consequences. I agree that nothing she said was threatening, but getting in someone’s face and repeatedly poking them is not okay. It’s not protected free speech, it can be considered harassment, disorderly conduct, or menacing, something like that. And lol she won’t go to prison, she’ll get community service and anger management or the charges will be dropped.
Jack: This is my issue, in the video we see that the police were called. Maybe she had poked a student before, but by the time they were video taping she had calmed down enough that the arrest was not needed. I just feel bad for her.
“Jack: This is my issue, in the video we see that the police were called. Maybe she had poked a student before, but by the time they were video taping she had calmed down enough that the arrest was not needed. I just feel bad for her.”
Well, she would still have committed a crime/made people feel safe if she put her hands on people, even if she calmed down later. If someone upset me and I punched them, I would still expect to get arrested even if I calmed down.
I do think people are far too quick to want people arrested, if it’s possible to get a situation resolved without that it’s good. I doubt I would call the cops on someone for poking me or swearing at me. Everyone is different though. I’s still disorderly conduct, and the property owner/student she poked had the right to press charges. Like I said, I seriously doubt she’ll get a permanent record, it will either be dismissed or diverted. Maybe anger management will do her some good, it’s a helpful class if you have issues controlling your anger.
I certainly agree that if she had punched someone in the face she should be brought to justice, but she didn’t hit anyone. It would depend on how she was poking I guess, but from the video it doesn’t seem like anything that serious happend. I think her getting arrested isn’t her being brought to justice, it may very well be an injustice. However, I wasn’t there so I obviously can’t say for sure either way. All I can say is that from this video is it looks like an injustice and I definitely sympathize with her.
Just because you feel bad for her, doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be held accountable. Save your sympathy for those being slaughtered.
She is a professor for crying in the rain and needs to be an example to young people. Maybe instead of being taken to jail, she should have just been fired. Either act like an adult or get a job in theater where you can be paid to throw a hissy fit.
Oh, and no jeans on Mondays, Ms. Curry: http://www.buffalo.edu/ubit/information-for-it-staff/cit-staff/dress-code.html
I’m saying there’s nothing for her to be held accountable for, swearing’s not a crime. Look, people can protest funerals and call the family horrible names, I think this woman was much less offensive. I have sympathy for everyone.
She is a person and she is in pain. I’m not sure what you saw in the video, but that’s not a hissy fit, that’s trauma. Honestly now, you are kind of offending me at the moment could you kindly change your tone?
She wasn’t in class, she can wear what she wants in my opinion. And honestly I don’t think it matters how you dress, there are bigger issues in the world.
Jack is 100% right. She’s NOT going to prison for this. She might get hauled off to jail and be bonded out but she won’t get prison time! I live in Ohio and we have 42 prisons. Ohio don’t play. I was almost brought up on phone harassment charges over a beef with an automobile. A friend of my husband put himself in the middle of our marriage and it was my belief he had stolen the truck. I have a clean record so I was stunned when I received a letter from the prosecutor’s office . I went downtown and explained the situation. All charges were dropped . But putting your hands on someone is considered a simple assault .
Also cursing at an Ohio cop will get you arrested. I am angry at a lot of things but if i were to see a pro choice display it wouldn’t be anything id make a scene over and curse. Like I said….She got exactly what she deserved. Just my opinion. Grow up lady!
And I can be as mad as a hornets nest but it gives me absolutely no right to poke someone or slap or punch them. At times Id love to but nobody’s worth my freedom.
“She is a person and she is in pain. I’m not sure what you saw in the video, but that’s not a hissy fit, that’s trauma. ”
Okay, I have plenty of traumas and I don’t go yelling at and being aggressive towards everyone who reminds me of them. That’s not how people are supposed to behave. Maybe being in the system will be good for her? She’s obviously not going to jail, women are treated leniently anyway and judges like to give them community service and counseling rather than time. Maybe she’ll get court-ordered anger management and counseling and figure out why she’s freaking out so much on these displays. It’s better for her and people around her than just ignoring her behavior you know?
I don’t think she should have a permanent record, but for minor offenses you can usually get them dropped or diverted if you agree to do something like counseling or restitution. Source: Been arrested a lot.
Just so you know I’m not unsympathetic to her. Her voice was cracking and I do think she’s hurting. I just don’t think you can put your hands on people and get out of consequences for it because you’re unhappy. And I wish that people could have handled this with no cops, maybe had a conversation about it, but obviously the people there felt unsafe enough to call them. I hope she gets some help.
I’m not sure what you saw in the video, but that’s not a hissy fit, that’s trauma.
Then hopefully her visit to jail will wake her up to the fact that she needs to get help for her trauma. Allowing a grown woman, a professor no less, to behave this way without consequences will not help heal her trauma.
She wasn’t in class, she can wear what she wants in my opinion. And honestly I don’t think it matters how you dress, there are bigger issues in the world.
You’re right; she wasn’t in class. Maybe she was going to put on her professional outfit before she got to her 1 o’clock class. You may not think it matters how professionals dress, but her employer obviously does and she made the choice to work there.
If I were a betting woman, I’d bet that this is how she often dresses for class. She may be the type who saunters in class late but gets upset when a student is late or she may be the type who wants to be buddy-buddy with the students and uses poor language and behaviors in attempts to impress them. But this is just my opinion and I have no way of knowing this.
On the day she threw her tantrum and went to jail, it was her students that were short-changed.
Or not.
I’m sympathetic to her, too. Her arrest was a gift to her. Whether she views it that way or not, will be her choice.
Jack: I could probably agree with that. If she actually put her hands on someone than sure, community service might be a good thing. But all we know for sure is what we saw in the video and all she did was swear while calmly saying why the picture offended her. Btw when I said prison I just meant stay the night in jail or something along those lines, not getting charged and sent to prison. I will try and be more clear next time.
Praxedes: Maybe she needs to face consequences, but from what I saw in the video certainly not legal ones.
…or she could just be a normal professor who dresses casually? You know almost literally nothing about this person and you are confident enough to make judgements about her entire character. I think that’s a bit presumptuous.
I’m glad you’re sympathetic.
I think that’s a bit presumptuous.
Throw some sympathy my way. Jeesh. I’ve had a rough week.
Maybe I’ll go poke and curse out some complete strangers.
Cops aren’t stupid for the most part. If this had been a matter where they could have let her go I’m sure they would have. Trust me they aren’t all that anxious to fill out all that PITA paper work of a police report. They obviously saw her as someone who was beyond just a warning and exercised their OWN. judgement and felt the need to arrest her.
I’ve seen instances where fights break out and the police are called. If the fight is over and everyone had cooled their jets police are usually content with warning people to go their separate ways and if they have to come back off to jail you shall go. She took it too far and they saw it fit to arrest her.
I’m sorry you’ve had a rough week, I hope it gets better.
I never said that it is okay to poke and curse at people because you are in emotional distress. I did say that I don’t think cursing warents being handcuffed and put in jail and that we need to have compassion for people in distress. Btw I do think we should also have compassion for the people she was yelling and cursing at. I didn’t focus on that in any of my posts because I was responding to comments that lacked compassion for this professor.
Poking and touching people? Oh no.
But you can see on tape that what she was doing at the point in time they arrested her, and a minute or two before, was not a case where those kinds of measures needed to be taken. Whether she did something worthy of those measures before this video was taken is less clear to me.
Also, I don’t think cops are jerks who just want to put people in jail, I want to be a police officer.
I have compassion for people in distress but you DO NOT put your hands on anyone!!! Why was she even in distress??? No! That just gives everyone a free pass to slug someone because they are in distress. She’s lucky she didn’t do it to someone like me cuz I would have smacked her!
” Also, I don’t think cops are jerks who just want to put people in jail, I want to be a police officer.”
Well, cops aren’t generally just jerks who want to put people in jail, but they are people. Some good, some bad, and most of them have a lot of experience with and little tolerance for people acting out, no matter what trauma is causing it. They arrested her, they most likely had some reason to. Hopefully she’ll get some court ordered counseling.
Really, it’s not really the police’s job to cater to someone who is having a rough time. They are trained to assess the situation, find out what’s causing an altercation, and take steps to remedy it. Not to hold anyone’s hand. It’s the courts who decide what extenuating circumstances existed, whether someone deserves leniency or not.
“They arrested her, they most likely had some reason to.”
I don’t think I would go that far. I mean it sounds like you’re saying that you think she deserved to be arrested, because she got arrested. I think we have some evidence to the contrary.
In the end though, if charges are layed it will be up to the courts to decide and they will examine all the evidence.
I guess we can all agree on that. Jack is right. Its now up to the judge. Eh my guess is she will get a slap on the wrist and maybe a program to compete. I’m sure its her first offense or she wouldn’t be working at a school. Anger management or counselors who teach coping skills might be good for her.
Hello Sandra Harris,
I am post abortive myself. When I stand with my I Regret My Abortion sign outside Planned Parenthood I get flipped off and sworn at by other women.
Why? What part of “I” do they not understand? Their anger is just this big neon arrow pointing to the stage of grief they are in. I have been there too. In my rage and anger I flipped off prolife billboards.
I get it.
My mission field is abortion recovery fyi
I am a Rachel’s Vineyard facilitator and long for ALL post abortive women to find the healing that I have found.
http://rachelsvineyard.org
They are sensitive to the photos because they KNOW. They project their anger onto those that hold the “disgusting” signs.
And I know some cops. Its a tough job but they are people and some are good and some slimy ….like the Rodney King beating and other cases but most of them are just there to uphold the law and keep the peace.
Carla: I’m sorry, your comments sounded a lot more harsh in the context of what everyone else was saying. I admire your courage and your work and your compassion. I’m really sorry. It’s difficult for me to decioher tone in people’s comments.
Sandra, I do see that I was uncharitable to preemptively insult the professor’s intelligence. You are right that the most aggressive people often are hurting because they participated in an abortion. I try to understand where people are coming from, and I see that I did not do that here.
While young children shouldn’t be the target audience for a graphic campaign (and won’t be when the images are displayed at a college campus), I don’t think this is a good reason to refrain from using them in a public space. We do not forego using graphic images because children might see them in other instances. It’s also quite difficult to consistently argue for making abortion illegal while at the same time holding that the feelings of born children and the wishes of their parents should trump saving the lives of unborn children.
As for post-abortive women that might be disturbed by the images, the same point applies (an advertisement that shows victims of a drunk driver might upset someone who either lost a loved one or maimed someone himself, yet this isn’t a reason not to use it if it might otherwise be effective). Pro-lifers also need to understand that 50% of women that have abortions in the U.S. have already had more than one. If abortion is not unthinkable for these women, the difficulties of a crisis pregnancy might still seem worse than the pain of going through an abortion.
Sandra,
No worries. :)
I have seen so many videos of folks becoming unglued at graphic images of abortion and my thoughts are always the same.
How have they been involved in abortion?
I will pray for this professor that she begins to look at her reactions to abortion and to see the truth of what abortion does to innocent human beings.
Carla: :)
Navi: I know one pro-life group that goes to universities to dialogue with students. They have images, but they usually keep them somewhat out of site and then bring students to come look at them after they have had a pretty long conversation and after they have warned them they are graphic. I think that’s probably the best way to go about it. So, I do think these images are useful, but it would depend on how they are used. If people are consistently getting offended I think that would be a sign that the activists need to change their approach. If the goal is to change hearts and minds, examining how people react to protests and other forms of activism is probably the best way to see how to do that. In my option anyway.
I know one pro-life group that goes to universities to dialogue with students. They have images, but they usually keep them somewhat out of site and then bring students to come look at them after they have had a pretty long conversation and after they have warned them they are graphic. I think that’s probably the best way to go about it.
Well, if it’s the one I’m thinking of (which I’m almost certain it is ;) ), it seems that their exhibit takes a few different forms. These include the full 15-panel version (where the signs are up to two storeys tall), as well as smaller kiosks. The former is very gruesome (they do put up warning signs, but these are often missed, vandalized, or ripped off). The latter, on the other hand, may have graphic pictures only in the free brochure distributed to participants (which they are warned about beforehand). I can see indeed see the merit of this approach. The main objective is to “share the truth about abortion with photos, but in the context of dialogue”.
So, I do think these images are useful, but it would depend on how they are used. If people are consistently getting offended I think that would be a sign that the activists need to change their approach. If the goal is to change hearts and minds, examining how people react to protests and other forms of activism is probably the best way to see how to do that. In my option anyway.
I mostly agree, though I would argue that all forms of pro-life activism (including running crisis pregnancy centres, passing a motion condemning female gendercide, investigating newborns left to die, or encouraging grieving women to share their stories) can and do consistently offend people. The two extreme sentiments are that we’re doing something wrong if people are offended, and that we’re doing something right if people are offended. Both are obviously flawed. However, there is a difference between debating the most effective way to reach people (which is very worthwhile to evaluate) and suggesting that we should forego saving lives to save feelings (which calls into question our very devotion to save lives). It very well might be true that pro-lifers shouldn’t set up massive displays with mangled human beings on them, but the reasons for reaching that conclusion also need to be sound.
I totally agree. I never meant to imply that if someone gets offended you shouldn’t use that approach. Some people will get offended over silly things. I think that there is value in discussing the best way to reach people. In my opinion at least, the best way to reach people is to start a dialogue. Your arguments came much closer to changing me to pro-life than many other approaches pro-life groups use.
I personally have found it hard to dialogue when someone is poking and swearing at me.
But that’s just me.
I think you are probably right in that it is difficult to talk about important issues when the person you are talking to is that upset. That’s why I think it’s important to discuss how best to use abortion photos so that fewer people get upset and more people can have a productive dialogue.
I think the best place to post abortion photos is on the doors and windows of the mills.