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Pro-Life Billboard In Freeport Vandalized

          Stephenson County Right To Life (S.C.R.L.) Victim Of A Hate Crime !          Our beautiful pro-life billboard was recently destroyed by a hate crime.  The billboard read:  "Abortion, the ultimate child abuse."  This graffiti was added "Why so serious?"  to which we respond, "Because abortion is murder."  The sign must be replaced.  Please open your heart and your wallets and donate to replace the sign and to help right this wrong.   

 

 

We are very fortunate to have two daily newspapers in town, the Freeport Journal Standard and The Focus.  Both of them have written great articles involving the recent vandalism of our pro-life billboard; we are including them below. 

 

Pro-life billboard vandalized

 

ByNickVogel

Focus staff writer

FREEPORT — Someone vandalized the anti-abortion billboard located near the intersection of Pearl City Road and Kiwanis Drive, and the members of the Stephenson County Right to Life organization are not laughing.

 

A vandalized Pro-Life billboard located near the intersection of Pearl City Road and Kiwanis Drive. Stephenson County Sheriff's Department said no arrests have been made in connection with the vandalism.

 

            The vandalism quotes a famous line uttered by the Joker in this summer's "The Dark Knight" movie. The line, "Why so serious?" is written in black spray paint under the words "Abortion The Ultimate Child Abuse." To the left of the wording is a photo of a baby. The vandal or vandals sprayed black circles around the baby's eyes and placed red duct tape across the baby's mouth.

            Lt. Richard Roodhouse of the Stephenson County Sheriff's Department said no arrests have been made in connection with the vandalism. Chris Clukey, a spokes person for the pro-life organization said the vandalism was discovered about two weeks ago. Volunteers have removed the duct tape, but removal of the paint proved hard. Clukey said that cleaners began to remove the actual signage.

           Clukey said this is not the first time vandals targeted the sign. "The previous sign, someone went after it with a chain saw. Which I thought was an interesting choice," said Clukey. That person went after the sign's actual posts. "We just went out and added more support to the post and the problem was solved."

   Vandals in several states have defaced billboards with similar, Joker-inspired marks. Clukey says he knows of the trend. "I am of two minds on that issue, because to me it does seem to fit a sort of random pattern. I seem to recall hearing that there were campaign billboards hit like this in Florida," he said. "There is no denying that some taggers (vandals) have been doing this in other communities."

   However, he said, "There's no denying there has to be some heartlessness at the core of this (vandalism)."

   The group now needs about $400 to replace the sign. Clukey said that $400 is a significant amount of money for a group as small as Stephen-son County Right to Life. They just spent the majority of their operating cash to set up a booth at the Stephenson County Fair.

   Clukey said the pro-life group has an answer to the question, "Why so serious?"  "Because abortion is murder and there have been over 40 million of them since 1973 in the United States," he said.

 

   Clukey said that anyone interested in donating money for a new sign may call 815-232-2538, or Use PayPal At; http://prolifecorner.com/?q=support

 

 

contact Nick Vogel

vogeln @focusnewspapers .com

 

 

 And from The Freeport Journal Standard

 

Pro-Life Billboard In Freeport Vandalized

BY TRAVIS MORSE

tmorse@journalstandard.com

  FREEPORT — A local pro-life group is raising money to repair or possibly replace a billboard in Freeport that was vandalized earlier this month.

            Eric Nelson, president of Ste-phenson County Right to Life, said his organization's pro-life billboard on Pearl City Road, near Kiwanis Drive, was vandalized approximately two weeks ago, causing an estimated $400 to $500 of damage.

  Group officials are in the process of repairing the billboard, but Nelson said the sign may have to be replaced entirely due to the extent of the damage. The billboard's structure will remain intact, but the sign itself may have to be replaced. The Stephenson County Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident, but so far no arrests have been made.

            The billboard features an infant's face and the message, "Abortion The Ultimate Child Abuse," along with contact information for Stephenson/Jo Daviess County Right to Life. Vandals made a large red grin on the infant's face with duct tape, drew dark circles around the infant's eyes, and scrawled the message, "Why so serious?," on the billboard.

  "It's obviously hate vandalism," Nelson said. "They targeted [the billboard] because of its message. ... Hopefully, we can salvage something, but at this point the sign will likely have to be replaced."

  Stephenson County Sheriff's Lt. Richard Roodhouse said the case is open, but that investigators do not have any suspects or leads at this point.

            Early on, investigators told Stephenson County Right to Life officials that the billboard would have to be taken down in order to obtain fingerprints. Right to Life officials told authorities they did not want the billboard taken down, Nelson said.

  Perpetrators in this case could be charged with felony criminal damage to property, if the damage caused was found to be over $300, Rood-house said.

 

          Nelson said his group has had a pro-life billboard in that location for more than 15 years. The message and layout of the billboard is changed periodically, and the current sign has been in place for about a year, he said.

  Stephenson County Right to Life is a small not-for-profit group with a membership of fewer than 10 people, Nelson said. The group holds demonstrations and distributes information on different "end of life issues," including abortion, euthanasia, and embryonic stem cells, he said.

  "We do quite a bit for a small amount of people," Nelson said.

  If you would like to make a donation to get the sign back up, go to the organization's Web site at : http://prolifecorner.com/?q=support On the site, you can either make an online payment or obtain the group's address to send a check.

 

 

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