DENVER, CO, July 4, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) —Days after Personhood USA president Keith Mason’s home was attacked in the night leaving his wife and children traumatized, a Personhood volunteer, 69-year-old Everett Stadig, was assaulted, sustaining a broken hip.Commentary. I ask Colorado authorities to investigate, arrest, and prosecute the cowardly assailant to the fullest extent of the law. This is a big deal. I want justice for Mr. Stadig and his family RIGHT NOW. I want a press conference and regular releases of information. Pro-abort violence is being tolerated as politically correct. It’s got to stop, NOW. Call the Denver Police Hate Crimes Hotline at 720-913-6458 and ask them what they are doing in Mr. Stadig’s case.
On Saturday, Stadig – a soft-spoken and slender gentleman - was thrown off his bicycle while peacefully gathering signatures for the Personhood amendment in Colorado, and as a result has had to undergo surgery to replace part of his hip.
Stadig stopped outside a grocery store to invite people to sign the Personhood petition. One woman expressed interest in signing, but had to return temporarily into the store. While Stadig waited, a man came by whom he also invited to sign the petition.
In a telephone interview from his hospital bed, Stadig told LifeSiteNews that the man was “in his mid thirties and looked about six foot tall.” He refused to sign, and began to swear and shout at Stadig.
“He was yelling ‘I’m pro-choice!’” Stadig recalled, adding that he used “most foul language.”
Stadig explained that being ‘pro-choice’ meant pro-abortion, and again urged him to sign. At first the man walked away, but returned half a minute later, still swearing and yelling.
“He said ‘you don’t have a right to be here!’” Stadig related, “and I said ‘I do have a right to be here, this is a Colorado Petition Drive’. Then he grabbed my petition pad, and with the same movement threw me to ground, and I was hurt so bad I couldn’t get up.”
Stadig was on a bicycle. He struck the ground hard on his hip and was in too much pain to rise. Stadig said that there were between 10 and 20 people present, and at least seven witnessed the assault, but no one had tried to stop the man. “It happened so fast, and they were too far away,” he explained.
The man who had attacked him did not stop to see if Stadig was injured. “After he threw me off the bicycle, he proceeded to leave,” Stadig said, “and I was trying to get people to call the police… to get that man’s license number, because I couldn’t do it.” Eventually a woman came forward, took the man’s license plate, and wrote a report.
Stadig learned later that his hip had been broken.
He remained on the ground for several minutes. “There were people around,” he said, “but no one offered to help me up.”
Eventually security personnel came out of the store and got Stadig off the ground and into a chair to wait for the ambulance.
Stadig was bruised and his hip badly injured: “I found out that it was separated, and I must get a replacement ball socket.”
While recovering from surgery, Stadig has still been gathering petitions in the hospital among the nurses and therapists.
Personhood USA President Keith Mason commented to LifeSiteNews, “There he is chillin in the hospital bed with his clipboard getting signatures of the hospital staff… he’s a great guy, an inspiration to us.”
Stadig is pressing charges, but does not yet know the name of his assailant and has still heard nothing from the police. “It’s unbelievable what happens in this country,” he said. “There’s so much violence.”
Stadig - tall, bearded and thin - bears a resemblance to Abraham Lincoln. He has made use of these traits to attract young people to his pro-life appeals. His signature Abe Lincoln tux and top hat have brought smiles and photo ops to many a family.
Stadig’s pastor Bob Enyart of Denver Bible Church, visited with Stadig in hospital. Pastor Enyart told LifeSiteNews, “Everett is so soft spoken, if he yelled you might hear him ten feet away. He’s a gentle giant who has the boldness of a lion when it comes to protecting an innocent child. Here in Denver, Everett is a local hero. As Jesus said, love God, and love your neighbor! That’s what Everett’s all about.”
Let us pray for Mr. Stadig’s recovery and his prompt return to his street ministry; for the conversion and healing of his assailant, and for that if the callous people around him who did not render him aid when he needed it. May they also ask for healing from God.