Off-duty officer accused of violence during abortion protest

• A Rhode Island police officer who is accused of hitting a lady at an abortion protest while not on duty is now prosecuted.
• 35-year-old Providence patrolman Jeann Lugo was accused with simple assault and disorderly conduct.
• During the time that Lugo was vying for the GOP nomination for the same position.

In relation to Friday’s protest at the State House, a Rhode Island police officer who is accused of hitting a lady at an abortion protest while not on duty has now been prosecuted.

State police announced in a news release on Saturday night that 35-year-old Providence patrolman Jeann Lugo had been accused with simple assault and disorderly conduct.

During the time that Lugo was vying for the GOP nomination for the same position, Jennifer Rourke, the chair of the liberal Rhode Island Political Cooperative, said that Lugo had punched her at least twice in the face. Lugo terminated his campaign after Providence police announced earlier on Saturday that he had been placed on paid administrative leave while an investigation was conducted.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion, protests were held outside the Rhode Island State House in Providence on Friday. An dispute between two people at the rally is captured on video, and then Rourke-looking woman is seen getting hit. What transpired between Lugo and Rourke earlier is unclear.

Read more: Pence condemns planned anti-abortion protests at Mother’s Day church services.

In a phone interview with The Associated Press on Saturday, Rourke claimed that she was repeatedly struck in the face as another physical conflict broke out while she was attempting to remove a counter-protester who had consented to leave the area. She acknowledged filing charges against Lugo.

According to state police, Lugo turned himself in on Saturday, was charged by a justice of the peace, and was later freed. On July 8, he will return to court. On Saturday and Sunday, Lugo did not reply to demands for comment. However, before charges were filed, he told the Boston Globe that he “went in to protect someone who a gang of agitators was attacking.”

The punching claim was also “not going to be denied,” according to Lugo, who also told the Providence Journal that “everything transpired very fast.”

Rourke admitted to the AP that she had never spoken to Lugo before and was unaware that he would be attending the demonstration.

I find it disappointing that he used violence in this manner. He is taught to deescalate because he is a police officer. He didn’t follow his training, she claimed.

Read more: 10 arrested in Eugene protest over abortion ruling

On Saturday afternoon, Rourke saw a doctor and had a CT scan. She claimed to be doing fine despite having a lot of ringing in her ears and soreness in her face.

Following the Friday event that quickly descended into violence, two further people were also charged. Nicholas Morrell of Warwick, one of the two individuals, claimed in a message on Sunday that he is 30 years old, not 31, not as the police claimed, and that he has “video evidence of the entire affair (and) I was arrested just standing there.”