85-Year-Old Pro-Life Protester Assaulted While Praying Outside Planned Parenthood

Published: 3/30/2019, 11:22:55 AM EDT

85-Year-Old Pro-Life Protester Assaulted While Praying Outside Planned Parenthood — Anti-abortion activists participate in the "March for Life," an annual event to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Jan. 18, 2019. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

Video footage captured the moment that an elderly pro-life protester, praying outside a Planned Parenthood abortion center in California, was assaulted by a man clad in black.

The clip shows the man in black, dressed like a member of the far-left group Antifa, knocking down the 85-year-old victim, identified as Ron, before repeatedly kicking him.

Telling the elderly man to "stay on the ground," the man in black then rips away the sign the protester was holding, which read "40 Days to Life."

Ron, whose last name was not disclosed, told NBC: "I tried to keep him from taking it and that was it. Then he knocked me down and kicked me."

The assault came after the man clad in black took the sign from Ron and the elderly man approached him to try to get it back, prompting the younger man to beat Ron.

Warning, viewers may find the following footage distrubing:

The situation took place outside an abortion center in San Francisco.

Ron said he's part of a group known as 40 Days for Life, which conducts silent prayer demonstrations outside of Planned Parenthood abortion centers across the country.

Ron said it's the third time that the same man harassed him or tried to steal the sign within a week.

San Francisco police officials said they're investigating the matter as an assault.

President's Son, Legal Defense

Donald Trump Jr., one of the sons of President Donald Trump, shared the footage on Twitter and asked his followers to "help find this piece of garbage," referring to the man in black.

The Life Legal Defense Foundation announced that it is representing the elderly man.

According to the foundation, the same man in black knocked two men to the ground just two days before the recorded incident.

"The attacks were reported to law enforcement, but it is not clear whether a formal investigation has been launched. Pro-lifers have not seen any additional law enforcement presence around the Planned Parenthood location since the initial attack," it said in a statement.

"We have seen an increase in violent assaults during peaceful pro-life vigils at Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities across the nation," the group added.

Robert Rueca, a police spokesman, told the conservative National Review that police obtained cell phone footage of the assault and are investigating what happened.

“An elderly man and a suspect got into an altercation where the suspect assaulted the elderly man and stole a sign that the victim was using for a planned protest,” Rueca said, adding that police are still “looking to identify the suspect and ultimately place them into custody.”

Ron also spoke with the publication, stating: “I think the violence from the culture of death needs to be exposed. It is the embodiment of their agenda."

Matt Britton, general counsel for 40 Days for Life, who is helping to represent Ron, told The Federalist that workers at the Planned Parenthood clinic declined to turn over video surveillance to the police. But he's optimistic that someone in the area will come forward.

"A lot of people like that say, I don’t like this either. I’m pro-choice. But what happened to that old man that wasn’t right," he said. "And they’ll say, ‘Here’s the guy.’"

Anyone with information was asked to call San Francisco police at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411.