From Sting to Stink

For one full week a new guard at Surgi Center abortion clinic had been harassing me and telling me I could not be on the sidewalk because I was violating the injunction. By that time, the injunction had already been argued at the Georgia Supreme Court by Jay Sekulow. It had been upheld but modified to say that we pro-lifers could be on the sidewalk if there were no more than twenty of us at a time. The guard kept saying I didn’t know what I was talking about and that he would have me arrested if I came back the following week. I knew he meant it.

I called Jay’s office and his associate, Jim Henderson, faxed me a copy of a written warning saying not to arrest me on an injunction violation. I was told to bring it with me the following week to Surgi Center to inform the guard that I had a right to be there and that I should not be arrested.

Because witnesses had often lied in the past about what we said or did at the clinics, some friends suggested we have someone across the street to videotape me, showing that I would not be trespassing, just staying on the sidewalk, when I returned the next Monday. We even spoke to an investigator from our church who said I should wear a wire and record the conversation between myself and the guard should he try to have me arrested. We spent hours practicing and planning. We organized what we believed would be the sting of the century!

The plan was for my friends to arrive a half hour before me and park across the street where they could set up their video camera in a van. They said I should park in my usual spot when I arrived, and make sure to avoid looking in their direction.

On Monday, I arrived with the microphone and recorder hidden under my blouse. I did as I was told and parked in my usual spot in AAA Parking. I was not on clinic property. I got out of the car and opened the trunk. I was reaching in for my literature when the guard told me I was going to be arrested. He turned toward the clinic saying he was calling for a squad car.

At that point, one of my friends, pretending to be a jogger, ran by me and said my microphone was not on. I went back to my car to turn it on.

The guard came back out. He just stood and watched me legally standing on the sidewalk. When two young girls arrived, they smiled, accepted my literature, thanked me, and continued down the sidewalk. I didn’t follow them.  The guard came up and said I was harassing them and was going to be arrested.  

I had made sure to carry the paperwork that Jim had faxed to me, clearly warning him that I was not to be arrested, but he refused to read it.

Minutes later, when one of the young girls came back out, I said, “Honey, this guard said I was harassing you.” Puzzled, she looked at him and said, “No, she was very nice.” I was so glad that her response had been recorded.

When the squad car arrived, I tried to get the officer to listen to me and read the paper in my hand. He refused as well. He took my fanny pack, put it on the hood of the car, and started going through it. Then he noticed the recorder and the wire going up and under my blouse. He pulled the wire off and checked the recorder. He laughed and said, “It’s off and didn’t record a thing!” I shrugged and thought, so much for recording that young girl’s response. Oh well, me and electronics! I was so glad to know that I had friends watching and filming the fact that I was never on the property and did not harass anyone.

At the jail, I was put in a cell by myself. I was so grateful for a completely empty bench to stretch out on. After talking for a moment to my “two” guardian angels, I lay down and had a wonderful nap.

It was not until I was released from jail that I learned what had transpired before my arrival at Surgi Center that morning. I was told that shortly after they arrived, my friends were approached by a different guard in the parking lot of the building across from Surgi. They were told to exit their vehicle and hold their arms in the air while he held a gun on them until it was decided that the tripod in their van was for a camera and not a rifle! They were ordered off the property.

They had left the area long before I arrived and had moved way down the street. Only one of them was able to see me between some bushes when I was arrested. The one that had jogged by me did not have time to stop and tell me what had happened when he saw the guard coming back out. All the time I was avoiding looking in their direction, they were not even there! Our sting had turned into a stink! Everything we had planned had failed miserably!

Shortly afterward I was ordered to court. Jim Henderson from Jay’s office, accompanied me to court to represent me. There was an angry-looking female judge sitting on the bench. When it became evident that they were proceeding directly to trial, Jim jumped to his feet and demanded a date for an arraignment. Thank the Lord he was there to rescue me.

I learned that they wanted to sentence me to one year for criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct with blocking. Then the news of my latest arrest made it to Love 86 Christian Radio Station and calls for interviews came in. There was a great deal of coverage for the next two weeks.

At court, just moments before the trial, I learned from Jay that the judge had suddenly been pulled from the bench and both she and the prosecuting attorney were replaced by another judge and PA. Could it be because the court had received a request from Love 86 to cover the proceedings? Or was it because they learned that both congressmen and senators were among those attending the trial in my support? I believe my “Only if God says so!” proclamation was activated.

The guard who had me arrested began with his expected lying, but my own witness shared the facts with conviction and poise.  

The judge angered the prosecuting attorney when he repeatedly asked me questions that would prove my innocence, such as, “That’s a seven-foot sidewalk, Ms. Black, and at five feet tall, you couldn’t block it even if you lay across it, correct?” Other questions he asked supported my innocence and quickly led to the dismissal of my case. I am sure that someone realized that I was the Karen Black of the Karen Black vs. the City of Atlanta lawsuit, which we had won, and that arresting me again was a big mistake.

When it was all said and done, our plans for recording and videotaping had failed so miserably, that when the Lord rescued me from the one-year sentence, He alone received the glory!

In the end, there was no boasting except in Him!

People may plan all kinds of things,

but the LORD’s will is going to be done.

Proverbs 19:21

If you would like to read about how the Lord cared for me during 23 other arrests while intervening for pregnant women and their pre-born children, please go to: karenblackmercer.com/store to order my memoir, Only If God Says So! for a reduced price with FREE SHIPPING.

Thank you.

(Available in hard, soft, and e-book)