ARTICLES

I Have No Guilt

I DO GOOD THINGS EVERY DAY

By Nicholas Owen

Conflict erupted Saturday morning, November 13, when a San Diego county sheriff's deputy attempted to stop a pro-life group from picketing the residential neighborhood of North County abortionist Bruce Tarzy. The pro-lifers filed complaints against the deputy for assault and battery. Later that morning, tensions again ran high when the wife of abortionist George Kung confronted the pro-lifers outside her home in Rancho Bernardo.

Sponsored by the California Life Coalition and patterned after Operation Rescue's "No Place to Hide" campaign, the pickets were planned to expose the abortionists within their own neighborhoods peacefully. After convening at 9:30 at a meeting place in Rancho Bernardo for prayer, the group of approximately 15 pro-lifers traveled to Tarzy's house at 15912 Ranch Hollow Road in Poway's exclusive Green Valley Highlands. The protesters displayed large aborted baby posters, address placards, and yellow arrows pointing toward Tarzy's house. Fliers announcing Tarzy's name, address, and occupation were placed on neighbors' mailboxes.

Soon after the group's arrival, neighbors came outside or peered through windows but did not speak to pro-lifers. At approximately 10:30 one driver, noticing five members of the group standing at the intersection of Ranch Hollow and Orchard Gate Roads, pulled over. She asked protest leader Cheryl Sullenger, "Why don't you help foster children instead of showing these pictures?" Sullenger began to explain the reason for the protest, but just then, two San Diego county sheriff's patrol cars arrived.

Seeing the officers, the woman walked over to the nearest one and asked him if "they have a right to be here." The officer, later identified as Fitzgerald, told her, "No, they don't have a right to be here." She asked Fitzgerald if he could "do something" to get rid of the protesters, and he replied, "I'm going to take care it this right now." He and the officer in the second patrol car, later identified as Sheppard, approached the group. "From the moment Fitzgerald pulled up," said protester Allyson Smith, "his barrels were loaded. He had a bad attitude right from the start."

Seeing Fitzgerald's demeanor and fearing for the group's physical safety, protester Ron Brock slipped away to retrieve his video camera. Smith also readied her camera, which prior to Fitzgerald's arrival had been put in her purse.

"It's time to leave right now!" barked Fitzgerald. When the protesters pointed out that they were not trespassing or disturbing the peace, he ordered them to leave and again met refusal. "Which one of you wants to be the spokesperson?" he asked. Sullenger responded, "I will." Fitzgerald walked over to her and repeated his demand. Sullenger said, "We want to cooperate with you. In fact, we were planning on leaving in about five minutes from now anyway."

Sullenger indicated that the rest of the group's members, who were further up the street, needed to be notified of the picket's conclusion and offered to go tell them. Fitzgerald brushed her offer aside and directed Sheppard to go get them. At that, Sullenger stated, "As I said, we were planning to leave on our own, but since you're acting like this, I'm going to call a supervisor, and that means we now have to stay here until this matter is settled, so we won't be leaving after all."

Deputy Sheppard told Sullenger that he would place a call to a supervisor for her. In the meantime, Fitzgerald continued to maintain a hostile and threatening demeanor. Returning with his video camera, Brock began filming Fitzgerald's confrontation with Sullenger. When told he was being taped, Fitzgerald said, "You have no right to photograph me," then went over to Brock and tried to wrestle the video camera away from him.

Seeing Fitzgerald's assault of Brock, Sullenger retrieved her own camera, and she and Smith began snapping pictures. When Fitzgerald saw Sullenger photographing him, he went over to her and tried to push her camera away from her face. As he did so, he noticed Smith taking his picture, and tried to knock her camera away, repeating that the protesters had no right to photograph him and that he did not like having his picture taken. All the while, Brock continued to videotape Fitzgerald, including his assault of Smith. Several times Fitzgerald attempted to prevent Brock from filming by placing his hands over the lens of his video camera.

Several minutes passed without a sheriff's supervisor arriving. Telling Fitzgerald he was "out of control," Sullenger then called for a supervisor on her own cell phone and asked Deputy Sheppard to place Fitzgerald under citizen's arrest. Sheppard did not comply. Sullenger also called her attorney, describing the incident as it unfolded.

At no time did deputy Sheppard make any attempt to stop Fitzgerald from hassling the protesters. Later, however, when asked on camera if he had observed Fitzgerald's actions, Sheppard admitted "Yes."

Sheppard explained that he and Fitzgerald had been called to the scene because "a four-year-old is having a birthday party [in this neighborhood]." Protester Sylvia Sullivan pointed to one of the gruesome aborted baby posters and said, "This baby didn't have a fourth birthday."

After learning of the confrontation, upon rejoining the group, five male pro-lifers from Calvary Chapel Oceanside took Fitzgerald aside. One of them, John Spots, attempted to diffuse the situation, saying, "You're a Christian, aren't you?" Fitzgerald grudgingly acknowledged that he was. Spots continued, "You're a law officer, you're out here doing good, right? And we're here doing good too. So see, we're all on the same side." Fitzgerald said, "I just don't like having my picture taken." Spots said, "But if you're doing good things, you would want to have your picture taken, wouldn't you?" Spots then invited the other men to join in praying for Fitzgerald, who turned his back to them as they did so.

After several minutes of waiting in vain for the sheriff's supervisor, without further ado first Fitzgerald, then Sheppard, got back into their patrol cars and left the scene. Not wanting to waste further time, the pro-lifers then left to go to their next picket. The three who were assaulted filed complaints with the county sheriff's department.

The next picket was of George Kung, at 13014 Polvera Avenue, off Pomerado Road, in Rancho Bernardo. At first, the pro-lifers were unable to find Kung's house due to an error in the house number of the address. Howard Putnam of Oceanside Calvary Chapel asked a neighborhood landscape worker in Spanish where the "doctor's" house was. The worker directed him to a large, turreted home with a minivan parked in the driveway, The pro-lifers then began their protest in front of the house.

For several minutes, calm prevailed, with the group still not certain that the turreted house was indeed Kung's. That doubt was alleviated, however, when Mrs. Kung emerged from her front door, wearing a large-brimmed sun hat and with camera in hand, snapping photographs of the protesters.

"This is a total misrepresentation! My husband doesn't do anything like that," yelled Mrs. Kung, referring to the aborted baby posters. Cheryl Sullenger replied, "I'm sorry, but if your husband is George Kung, this is what he does for a living. We want to ask him to stop killing babies."

"He saves lives!" shouted Mrs. Kung.

"We want to expose you and call you to repentance," said John Spots.

"I'm a very good person," said Mrs. Kung, heading back toward her front door. Sullenger reminded her, "Your beautiful home, the food on your table, even the hat you are wearing is all paid for with the blood of babies." Tearing off the hat as she went back into her house, Mrs. Kung shouted, "I have no guilt! I do good things every day."

Momentarily Mrs. Kung reappeared outside, this time wielding a video camera. After filming pro-lifers, she again headed back into her house. Before she reached the front door, Calvary member Spots reminded her, "He [your husband] kills little babies, boys and girls."

"Then adopt them!" shouted Mrs. Kung.

"We can't," said Spots, "because he kills them."

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