Lawmaker vows to ‘do better’ after abortion clinic video
In this Sept. 25, 2014, file photo, State Rep. Brian Sims, D-Philadelphia, speaks at a protest calling on Pennsylvania to add sexual orientation to its hate crime law at John F. Kennedy Plaza, also known as Love Park in Philadelphia. The Democratic Pennsylvania state lawmaker is drawing criticism for recording himself berating a woman demonstrator at length outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia, calling her an “old white lady” and her protest “grotesque.” AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File
FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2014, file photo, State Rep. Brian Sims, D-Philadelphia, accompanied by other officials, speaks at a protest calling on Pennsylvania to add sexual orientation to its hate crime law at John F. Kennedy Plaza, also known as Love Park in Philadelphia. The Democratic Pennsylvania state lawmaker is drawing criticism for recording himself berating a woman demonstrator at length outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia, calling her an “old white lady” and her protest “grotesque.” (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
A Pennsylvania state lawmaker who has drawn criticism for a recording of himself berating a woman who was protesting abortion outside a Philadelphia clinic promised Tuesday to “do better.”
Democratic state Rep. Brian Sims posted a two-minute video on Twitter that said “two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“As an activist and an advocate, I know why pushing back against harassment and discrimination are a must, even when they’re uncomfortable, but last week I wasn’t a patient escort,” Sims said, referring to a volunteer role he has performed in the past. “I was a neighbor and a concerned citizen and I was aggressive. I know that two wrongs don’t make a right and I can do better and I will do better for the women of Pennsylvania.”
In the video shot last week outside a Planned Parenthood facility in his district, Sims peppered the unidentified woman with comments and questions, calling her actions disgusting, racist and shameful. The woman largely ignores him, at one point taking a rosary out of her bag.
The chairman of the state Republican Party, Val DiGiorgio, made public a letter he sent Tuesday to city, state and federal prosecutors, asking them to investigate what he called potentially criminal conduct in that video and another.
In the second video, Sims asked viewers to identify three young females he described as protesters and “pseudo Christians” outside the Planned Parenthood clinic. He offered a reward for the information, promising to donate $100 to Planned Parenthood.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney William McSwain declined to comment. A request for comment has been made with the state attorney general’s office. A spokesman for the city district attorney said their office is reviewing the issue.
“Not only does Rep. Sims, a former collegiate-level football quarterback, use physical intimidation, but he also threatens people with so-called ‘doxing’ or enticing viewers to provide identifiable information about his targets to increase the harassment and intimidation of his victims,” DiGiorgio wrote.
In the latest video, Sims said he has lived near the clinic for 15 years and served as a volunteer patient escort.
“I will fiercely protect a woman’s right to make the best choices for her health (and) her body, unimpeded,” he wrote on Twitter.
Sims, in Harrisburg for a legislative voting session, did not respond to several messages left over the past two days.
A senior Republican in the state House, Appropriations Chairman Stan Saylor of York County, said Tuesday that Sims should apologize.
“Further I believe his actions warrant an investigation by the House Ethics Committee,” Saylor said in a news release. “The actions taken by Rep. Sims are serious and are a concern to public safety.”
Comments
Protesting: the expression of disapproval of or objection to something.
In the video, the "Old White Woman" as the honorable Representative referred to her as, remained pretty calm, quiet, and composed. She was well within the law. The Honorable Representative was not. The House Ethics Committee needs to hear from the people.
https://www.ethics.pa.gov/Documents/Forms%20Library/Ethics%20Complaint%20Form/SEC%20-%203%20Ethics%20Complaint%20Form.pdf
Links to the Ethics Complaint Form
Or... give them a call
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0400
(717) 783-1610
800-932-0936 (toll free in PA)
Good evening. This person, this government actor, appears to he using the authority of his office to intimidate one of his constituents. That is immoral. Whereas, she has first amendment rights as a citizen, government has no right to infringe them.
Wasn't that part of the revolutionary war?
Did we not battle an oppressive government that was silencing the people, one that was adding taxes and removing a citizens inalienable rights provided by their Creator?
We need to vote out all the incumbents.
This guy reminds me of the time Director Larry Stern attacked me for recording the meetings and interviewing Directors. He angrily and arrogantly used his coat to silence the people's right to a transparent district. Vote wisely people, vote wisely.
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr.
Let's talk PC? Where'd that term come from? Let's talk, "Hate Speech"? Where'd that term come from?
The rep. is from the LGBT (where'd that come from) community, and shows us here, how having a narrow generational mentality, is a condition of membership to that community. LGBT advocacy must fester in rage and hatred. They force equality, as advocates break through the doors, intimidate the naysayers, and take over the loudspeakers. It is a movement of obnoxious lecturing, silencing, intimidation, bullying, and bitter rage that does little more than validate their prejudices. But an elected leader needs to rise to a higher standard and should not harass citizens practicing their civil rights. If Sims’s driving goal is empathy, he needs to genuinely address his own deeply held bigotry and speak to those he disagrees with, not shout at and shame them on camera. If LGBT people want to keep the social acceptance they’ve fought so long for, they need to stop promoting such hateful voices as this man is.
If you look back at where the victimization of America began, you would see it's the socialist progressives among the Democrat Party, who try and victimize. Looking back, I saw it as a way to get the victim to run for help from the gubmint. Eventually, the poor little victim will depend on gubmint. That's right out of your very own play book.
As for pity? It's not pity, it's compassion for the "Old White Lady" who was being harassed by a young man. This TEA Party man will not stand by and watch that kind of bullying. Simms will pay dearly, and so will the rest of the LGBTQ culture, if you all continue to employ such tactics.
Good Day, and look ahead, the future looks bright.
MAGA
Some of her quotes...
“We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population.”
In a letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble in December, 19, 1939, Sanger exposited her vision for the “Negro Project,” a freshly launched collaboration between the American Birth Control League and Sanger’s Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau.
“They are…human weeds,’ ‘reckless breeders,’ ’spawning… human beings who never should have been born.”
Sanger penned these thoughts regarding immigrants, the poor, and the error of philanthropy. Sanger’s ideology of racial and social hygiene bleeds through her writings.
“But for my view, I believe that there should be no more babies.”
In a 1947 interview, Sanger described her desire for women in the developed world to cease completely from reproduction.
This is the founder of the very thing Sims went out and "Bullied" for. Are you kidding me?