Derek Moore faces up to 18 months in prison for swerving his car at Abortion Free New Mexico leader Bud Shaver outside a local abortion facility and then confronting him and stealing a pro-life sign.
ALBUQUERQUE (LifeSiteNews) – A New Mexico man is being charged with larceny and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after swerving his car toward a pro-life activist outside an area abortion facility, then having a verbal altercation and stealing a pro-life sign.
Abortion Free New Mexico (AFNM), which maintains daily “peaceful, prayerful” sidewalk counseling outside the city’s three abortion facilities, reports that the incident took place on August 15 outside the Whole Woman’s Health abortion center, where AFNM leader Bud Shaver was standing with a sign. After swerving his car toward Shaver, the man later identified as Derek Moore parked and confronted Shaver, which Shaver recorded.
Moore can be heard telling Shaver he could not erect the sign on public property and seen taking it upon himself to remove it. An argument ensues, during which Shaver says, “you want to hit me with your car, punk?” Moore first denies he did anything, then strikes a dismissive tone: “Call the cops, they won’t do anything.” Shaver films Moore walking away with a sign bearing the message, “Love Will End Abortion.”
According to the police report from the Albuquerque Police Department (embedded in AFNM’s story), Moore denies any nefarious vehicular intent and claims he was merely “distracted and accidently pulled to close [sic] to a curb, then swerved back into his lane and continued on his way.” He told police he “saw someone (Shaver) obstructing the sidewalk with a bunch of garbage, so he parked his car. Derek stated he then went and picked up a piece of the garbage to ‘throw it out’. Derek stated (Shaver) followed him and called him a communist. Derek stated (Shaver) was having an ‘illegal protest and obstructing the sidewalk’.”
If convicted, Moore faces up to 18 months in prison on the assault charge. The pro-life group adds that he has since been identified by other local pro-life activists, who relayed that he has a history of similar harassment.
“Abortion Free New Mexico would like to thank the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) for responding so quickly to this incident and following through with the charges,” responded AFNM spokeswoman Tara Shaver. “Hopefully, the unhinged Derek Moore will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. A strong message needs to be sent to the pro-abortion community that they can’t attack peaceful pro-life Christians for simply living out their Christian faith in the public square.”
“Abortion Free New Mexico volunteers go the the sidewalks outside of local abortion centers with love and compassion,” Shaver added. “Clearly our peaceful, prayerful presence is having an impact. Our team will not be deterred, we will purchase some more signs and materials and return to Whole Woman’s Health abortion facility more resolute than ever to help pregnant women in need and save precious babies’ lives.”
Despite longstanding pro-abortion efforts to paint the pro-life movement as “violent extremists,” violence on behalf of abortion has always been more prevalent than commonly acknowledged. In February, the conservative Family Research Council reported that violent attacks and threats on Christian churches across the United States more than doubled from 2022 to 2023 and rose by 800 percent since 2018, with a significant portion of the most recent violence motivated by pro-abortion anger at the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Yet the federal government has been far more aggressive in prosecuting pro-lifers than their opponents.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) recently sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray asking him to explain the disparities in prosecutions related to abortion activism.
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