Pro-Life Youth Arrested in Birmingham Call for Return of Camera Equipment to Prove Innocence
Birmingham, Alabama, Feb. 16 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Kortney Blythe, Director of Survivors Campus Life Tours, will hold a news conference in front of the Birmingham Police Department Central Headquarters at 1710 1st Avenue North at 12:00 noon today. She will demand the release of the Survivors' cameras and videos that were confiscated and held by the Birmingham police following the Survivors' arrests last week Thursday.
On February 12, nine members of the Campus Life Tour team were arrested while handing out literature on the public sidewalk outside of Parker High School in Birmingham. They were held overnight in Birmingham City Jail and charged with trespassing. At the time of the arrests, a member of the Campus Life Tour overheard police officers saying, "we need to wipe the cameras", because of the evidence contained on the video - the Survivors were not trespassing on school property at any time during their literature distribution, as the video footage will clearly show.
Following the release of the young people from Birmingham City Jail on Friday, the group attempted to recover their video cameras from the Central Headquarters. They were told that the property was logged as evidence and needed to be released by the officer who checked it in, Officer C. Smith.
Officer Smith's normal shift was 3:00 - 11:00 pm, the Survivors were informed. When they called at 3:00 pm to speak with Smith, they were told she was running late and would not arrive until 5:00 pm, at which time the property department would be closed and the Survivors' cameras would be inaccessible.
"How convenient. The property department closed at 5:00 pm and Officer Smith just happened to arrive late to work the day she was needed to release our cameras," said Blythe. "It is clear the Birmingham Police Department is playing a game with our personal property, and I am going to the Central Headquarters tomorrow to demand an end to this charade. We are confident that the video footage contained on our cameras will prove that the Survivors were not trespassing, and that the Birmingham police officers' actions were unlawful and abusive. It is imperative that we recover the camera equipment and data, and we will not rest until the Birmingham Police Department returns our property intact."
