Sara Buttitta, President of University of Buffalo Students for Life, informed SFLA’s Northeast Regional Coordinator Phil Eddy that their Cemetery of the Innocents display had been torn down by four unknown UB students.
A blurry campus surveillance video showed four individuals ripping the display out of the ground and shoving it into trash bags. The campus police were able to recover the bags and return them to the group, and UB Students for Life re-assembled the display that afternoon.
Later that day, Sara alerted Phil that two students – a male and female – had been arrested after they were allegedly seen kicking crosses over and ripping them out of the ground!
According to Sara, the arresting officer alluded to the possibility of these students facing hate crime charges for their actions. To our knowledge, this would be the first time students could face charges as harsh as this for vandalizing a pro-life display.
Sarah had these words to share in an email late last night:
“We are grateful for the swift and professional manner in which the campus police have acted, and are thankful for the support UB has given us this semester. Our university should be a place where ideas can be shared and debated without the threat of violent acts, but it appears some people are just too blinded by hate to let that happen.
Our actions are peaceful and our cause is just; no amount of harassment, violent intimidation, or hate will stop us from promoting the cause of life!”
Stand strong, UB Students for Life!
