2 arrested after protesting anti-abortion demonstration on University of Florida campus

Two people were arrested Friday afternoon during an anti-abortion display protest inside the University of Florida’s Turlington Plaza that turned violent.

Brian Taylor, president of the UF Graduate Assistants United Union, and student Ian Dinkla were taken into custody by campus police and charged with multiple felonies, court records show.

Taylor, 26, and Dinkla, 21, were protesting large graphic images of aborted fetuses displayed by travel agency Created Equal.

Police say Dinkla stole a sign valued at $120. When an officer tried to arrest Dinkla, he pushed the officer away, the report said. Taylor then hit an officer in the back of the head with a bullhorn in an attempt to arrest Dinkla. An arrest report said Taylor punched a plainclothes officer in the face.

A Video of the incident Dinkla shows the two wrestling with police after law enforcement is called to the scene to take the sign.

Dinkler is charged with robbery and resisting an officer with violence, both felonies, while Taylor faces a misdemeanor charge of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence and resisting arrest without violence.

No bond had been set as of Friday evening.

Anti-abortion demonstrations

The symptoms seen in UF are controversial but not new

The group Created Equal spends regular time on the Florida campus to share its message. The anti-abortion group was at UF earlier in the week, as well as the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida. The self-described “Justice Ride” tour, which first dates back to 2011, is inspired by the Civil Rights-era Freedom Rides and argues that unborn fetuses are protected by the 14th Amendment — comparing abortion to historical tragedies, such as the Holocaust.

Two counter-protest groups posted in the plaza to distract from the images, apparently outnumbered by the created equals.

The story continues

Planned Parenthood’s Generation Action drew its own crowd of students and pink ‘Banning Our Bodies’ signs. Other students held up signs demanding free abortion access for all, and about two dozen others held their own rally for bodily autonomy.

Olivia Packham, a member of Generation Action Group, said the controversial demonstrations are more dangerous for women than ever, considering the passage of Roe v. Wade and other anti-abortion laws, including Florida’s recently proposed six-week abortion ban.

“Florida was a safe haven,” said the 19-year-old health sciences major. “Now (protections) are being removed so the entire South doesn’t have a safe place to have an abortion.

“We’ve had experiences where students have panic attacks in response to these images simply because of how distressing they are. But in the end, we are getting much more support and response from the student body than them.”

Seth Dreyer, vice president of Created Equal, said the graphic images represent the reality of abortion.

“You can’t make abortion look good,” she said. “The reason it’s graphic is because abortion is graphic.”

Students on the university’s unofficial sub-reddit channel, r/uflSensitive students are warned to avoid the area on Wednesday and Friday.

“Trigger warning for walking through Turlington for the next hour or so,” one user wrote in a post with more than 150 upvotes. “You don’t force anyone to see those pictures, real or fake, especially people trying to get to class.”

Another popular post celebrated a student known as “Our Hero” who ran into one of the displays on Wednesday Some students bumped into the display while walking through the plaza on Friday.

Delaney Doum, a 19-year-old UF nursing sophomore, sits on the plaza near the display promoting the Gator Christian Life group. Although not affiliated with Created Equal, he said he supports the group’s work.

“It’s controversial, but it’s an effective way to do it,” Doom said. “Some of the images shown can be emotional, but I think it’s important for people to know what’s going on when they have an abortion.”

Maria Peralta, a 20-year-old UF finance junior who held a Planned Parenthood sign in the plaza, said she believes the display is a largely ineffective way to achieve the group’s goals.

“These pictures are so unnecessary, people are just trying to get to class,” Peralta said. “I don’t even think it looks real.”

This article originally appeared in The Gainesville Sun: Equivalence has been made by Planned Parenthood on graphic images in UF