Police to abortion protestors: Move it

Manassas police Chief John J. Skinner recently caught some heat when he changed up the permits for demonstrators on Sudley Road at Forestwood Lane.

Right-to-life advocates often demonstrate with signs at an intersection that is near an abortion clinic.

Skinner said a couple of months ago he received several complaints from motorists who said their view was obstructed when they were trying to turn onto Sudley Road.

They told Skinner that the protesters and their signs were in the way.

“We’ve been receiving complaints since midsummer from motorists who were using the businesses on Forestwood Lane,” Skinner said. “They were complaining that they couldn’t see, that their line-of-sight was obstructed as they were trying to see around signs and or protesters milling right at that spot.”

So Skinner rewrote the permits, with advise from the city manager and city attorney, to move the demonstration site away from the intersection to “create a small safety zone” and to restrict signs from being placed in the ground.

After Skinner changed the conditions of the permits, several of the protesters complained to the city council, saying their First Amendment rights were being violated.

Skinner said safety concerns guided his decision to place restrictions on the demonstration site.

Skinner doesn’t want to be “overly restrictive,” and believes he’s on solid ground.

“There is a legal standard that guide — with respect to restrictions — what may be placed on a demonstration, and that guidance comes to us from the Supreme Court,” Skinner said. “Law enforcement is on very clear ground to impose regulations necessary to ensure safe vehicular and pedestrian flow.”

The city council asked Skinner to talk with the protesters after they complained.

Skinner said he’s gotten in touch with two of them and explained his position.

He’s expecting to meet with them again Friday and said he’ll take their considerations “under review.”

“I’ll make a decision and then report back to council,” he said.

City ordinance limits the number of signs demonstrators may use at any one time to five. The signs must not exceed 24 by 36 inches and may be attached to wooden handles with no sharp ends, Skinner said.

The protesters asked for permission to move their demonstrations to Forestwood Drive, but that’s private property and the owners don’t want demonstrators, Skinner said.

“The property agent for the management company, that manages that property, has imposed that condition,” Skinner said. “We’re obligated to enforce it.”

Every so often, police get calls for people demonstrating directly in front of the clinic. That’s illegal too.

“We do occasionally get complaints from the clinic that somebody is standing directly at their front door chanting at persons coming in trying to convince them not to enter the building,” Skinner said.

People who protest in front of the clinic are advised that they are trespassing and advised to move away. If they don’t they can be arrested, the chief said.

A demonstration, with factions from both sides attending, drew roughly 200 protesters last weekend, Skinner said.

Manassas Bureau Chief Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.