VIENNA, October 21, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — After the March for Life on Saturday in Vienna, the musician who performed at the march was attacked by two girls, and her bike was stolen, prompting police intervention.
Closing the March for Life, Vero, a young singer with blond dreadlocks and a guitar, led the 2,000-person crowd in a song: “We’re the Pro-Life Generation.”
The message was clear: we will stand for justice. We will stand for the smallest. We will stand for the women who are often alone and see no other way out. We will stay by you and fight for you.
During the March, counter-demonstrators from multiple groups including Antifa attempted to stop the march by sitting in the street. However, the police adjusted the march route slightly and moved those blocking the march. Overall, the march took place peacefully because of heavy police presence.
After the March, Vero made her way to her bike. It was locked near where members of Antifa and the other counter demonstration groups were gathered. She’d hardly unlocked her bike before a girl dressed in black who was clearly a part of the counter-demonstrators ran over and grabbed hold of the bike. Surprised, Vero held on.
A second girl wearing sunglasses ran over, grabbing the bike with the other girl. “They pulled so hard,” Vero said. As the pulled, somebody kicked Vero in the shin.
“I realized that couldn’t hold the bike anymore and exclaimed, ‘Jesus, help!’” said Vero. One of the girls repeated what Vero had said, and the two assailants laughed. Then one of the girls got on Vero’s bike and rode off, the other one running beside her. They headed right into a police car, where the police were standing.
At first, the police didn’t know what had happened, thinking Vero belonged to Antifa and the left-wing counter-protesters. But as soon as the police realized what had happened, they quickly apprehended the girls. The attackers are currently in jail.
At the police station, Vero showed the police her picture on a blog (linked to the event website counter-march). The police were surprised, but then they saw the connection between Vero’s attack and her pro-life beliefs.
“Sometimes people would come up to me and talk and then occasionally react aggressively, but I was never targeted directly with violence like this before,” Vero stated.
Vero believes that it is important to share what happened to her, not to incite fear, but to inspire others to have courage and spread the message that love is stronger than hate.
“I want to tell the girls who attacked me, I love you. I forgive you. I don’t hate you. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. To all the counter-protesters, I want to say that we are here for you and love you. If you are ever in a crisis pregnancy, we’re here for you.”
Although surprised by the attack, Vero realizes that what happened to her — violent discrimination because of her beliefs — could have happened to anyone. Yet she remains undaunted and plans to continue to share the pro-life message: “I am not afraid. I know that Jesus is with me. Love always wins over fear.”
Vero draws courage from the thought of the babies whose lives are taken from them and the women who are pressured to abort by their partners or situations. “They’re the real ones who are being hurt. It’s up to us to stand up for them.”