The Rev. 'Flip' Benham gets 18 months probation and must stay away from clinics.
In a case likely to send a message nationally, a Mecklenburg County jury Friday found a local anti-abortion activist guilty of stalking a Charlotte doctor by distributing posters with abortion doctors' names and photos and bearing words "Wanted."
The Rev. Phillip "Flip" Benham, director of Concord-based Operation Save America, was charged with misdemeanor stalking after authorities said he passed out hundreds of posters, saying: "Wanted ... By Christ, to Stop Killing Babies."
Clutching his Bible, Benham said the abortion industry and the city of Charlotte have succeeded at "removing our voice from the street."
"I can't speak. I can't get within 500 feet," said Benham, 62. "They've stolen from innocent babies a voice that has spoken for them."
A jury of five women and seven men deliberated for a little more than 90 minutes before announcing a verdict. He was sentenced to 18 months probation and ordered to stop his intimidating behaviors.
Benham has been a regular visitor at clinics that provide abortions in Charlotte and across the country. He often used a bullhorn to preach and try to convince young women entering the clinic to not go through with the procedure.
In one instance, authorities said he and supporters went to a Charlotte doctor's home and inside his clinic to take photos. They also distributed hundreds of the "Wanted" posters and attached them to doors in the doctor's neighborhood.
Several doctors have been killed after similar fliers were distributed in other cities. In 1993, Dr. George Patterson was killed in Mobile, Ala., and Dr. David Gunn was killed in Pensacola, Fla. His replacement, Dr. John Britton, was gunned down a year later. Dr. George Tiller survived an assassination attempt in 1993, but was killed in 2009 inside his church in Wichita, Kan.
The Charlotte doctor's supporters hope Friday's verdict has nationwide impact and will encourage other district attorneys to prosecute activists like Benham who target abortion doctors.
"For too long, Benham and his organization have been able to stalk and terrorize abortion providers and their families with impunity," said duVergne Gaines, legal coordinator for the Feminist Majority Foundation, which provides legal and security assistance to the Charlotte doctor's clinics.
After the trial this week, one juror, who asked that her name not be published, said they looked at the stalking statute and "it was clear that (Benham) violated every part of it."
"He went to the doctor's house," she said. "He went into the doctor's office and took pictures. He spoke to neighbors and called him a murderer. That is harassing. That causes fear."
Benham's attorney, Toussaint Romain, filed a notice to appeal immediately after the verdict. He said his client's work in the abortion debate should not be associated with other cases in which doctors have been murdered in other states.
He said in closing arguments that Benham never met the doctor until they were face-to-face in court. Romain asked jurors to separate their feelings about abortion from the evidence in the case.
"This case is not about the flashpoint of abortion, it's about what Mr. Benham did or did not do," he said.
Mecklenburg County prosecutors said Benham sought to scare the doctor from practicing in Charlotte.
Assistant District Attorney Kristen Northrup argued that Benham was well aware that doctors elsewhere had been killed after similar posters had been circulated.
"What would a reasonable person think if they saw 'Wanted' on a poster with their picture on it," Northrup said.
She said the doctor is so afraid of being targeted by anti-abortion activists that he has tinted his car windows, varies his routes to work, and never parks in his designated space.
Benham said he and his group don't condone or practice violence or vandalism.
Benham was previously convicted by a judge on the stalking charge but exercised his right to a jury trial.
After that trial, Superior Court Judge Joseph Turner ordered that Benham stay clear of the doctor's home neighborhood and remain 500 feet from the three clinics where the doctor works.
Benham said he will continue to protest outside abortion clinics. As for the three clinics where the Charlotte doctor works, he said:
"There will be other people who will come and stand up for what's right."
In a case likely to send a message nationally, a Mecklenburg County jury Friday found a local anti-abortion activist guilty of stalking a Charlotte doctor by distributing posters with abortion doctors' names and photos and bearing words "Wanted."
The Rev. Phillip "Flip" Benham, director of Concord-based Operation Save America, was charged with misdemeanor stalking after authorities said he passed out hundreds of posters, saying: "Wanted ... By Christ, to Stop Killing Babies."
Clutching his Bible, Benham said the abortion industry and the city of Charlotte have succeeded at "removing our voice from the street."
"I can't speak. I can't get within 500 feet," said Benham, 62. "They've stolen from innocent babies a voice that has spoken for them."
A jury of five women and seven men deliberated for a little more than 90 minutes before announcing a verdict. He was sentenced to 18 months probation and ordered to stop his intimidating behaviors.
Benham has been a regular visitor at clinics that provide abortions in Charlotte and across the country. He often used a bullhorn to preach and try to convince young women entering the clinic to not go through with the procedure.
In one instance, authorities said he and supporters went to a Charlotte doctor's home and inside his clinic to take photos. They also distributed hundreds of the "Wanted" posters and attached them to doors in the doctor's neighborhood.
Several doctors have been killed after similar fliers were distributed in other cities. In 1993, Dr. George Patterson was killed in Mobile, Ala., and Dr. David Gunn was killed in Pensacola, Fla. His replacement, Dr. John Britton, was gunned down a year later. Dr. George Tiller survived an assassination attempt in 1993, but was killed in 2009 inside his church in Wichita, Kan.
The Charlotte doctor's supporters hope Friday's verdict has nationwide impact and will encourage other district attorneys to prosecute activists like Benham who target abortion doctors.
"For too long, Benham and his organization have been able to stalk and terrorize abortion providers and their families with impunity," said duVergne Gaines, legal coordinator for the Feminist Majority Foundation, which provides legal and security assistance to the Charlotte doctor's clinics.
After the trial this week, one juror, who asked that her name not be published, said they looked at the stalking statute and "it was clear that (Benham) violated every part of it."
"He went to the doctor's house," she said. "He went into the doctor's office and took pictures. He spoke to neighbors and called him a murderer. That is harassing. That causes fear."
Benham's attorney, Toussaint Romain, filed a notice to appeal immediately after the verdict. He said his client's work in the abortion debate should not be associated with other cases in which doctors have been murdered in other states.
He said in closing arguments that Benham never met the doctor until they were face-to-face in court. Romain asked jurors to separate their feelings about abortion from the evidence in the case.
"This case is not about the flashpoint of abortion, it's about what Mr. Benham did or did not do," he said.
Mecklenburg County prosecutors said Benham sought to scare the doctor from practicing in Charlotte.
Assistant District Attorney Kristen Northrup argued that Benham was well aware that doctors elsewhere had been killed after similar posters had been circulated.
"What would a reasonable person think if they saw 'Wanted' on a poster with their picture on it," Northrup said.
She said the doctor is so afraid of being targeted by anti-abortion activists that he has tinted his car windows, varies his routes to work, and never parks in his designated space.
Benham said he and his group don't condone or practice violence or vandalism.
Benham was previously convicted by a judge on the stalking charge but exercised his right to a jury trial.
After that trial, Superior Court Judge Joseph Turner ordered that Benham stay clear of the doctor's home neighborhood and remain 500 feet from the three clinics where the doctor works.
Benham said he will continue to protest outside abortion clinics. As for the three clinics where the Charlotte doctor works, he said:
"There will be other people who will come and stand up for what's right."
Yeah, you can, dude.
You just can't stalk, harass, and intimidate people. And if those three things are what you think "speaking" is, then you need to pick up a dictionary, stat.
original comment:
Wish I remembered! But I LOVE that shirt, already bought two.
I'm gonna credit you!
I love those shirts too. I especially like the teapot one :D
I'm gonna credit you!