AUL President & CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest was quoted by the media at a vigil outside the White House.
From the report:
Several protesters were arrested outside the White House today while lobbying the president for help for Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese attorney and human rights activist who gained international attention for exposing the brutality of his government’s one-child policy.
[…]
“We came out for peaceful demonstrations for Chen Guangcheng and now, the fact that this is a completely peaceful protest with people praying in front of the White House, they’ve arrested people – taken them away, put handcuffs on them behind their backs, put them into a white van and hauled them away in the United States of America. This is an outrage.”
Yoest saw a connection between the Chinese government’s crackdown on Chen and the U.S. government arresting her fellow and sister human rights activists.
She said, “I brought my kids out here to teach them about American government because we believe in standing for life and standing for principle. In the United States of America, one of our most precious principles is being able to stand and protest peacefully, and yet the United States Park Service has arrested people and hauled them away simply for praying in front of the White House for a Chinese national who is trying to stand up for human rights and for freedom. That’s what America is supposed to stand for and yet they are betraying that very principle, not only by how they are treating Chen and his request for American assistance, but by hauling American citizens away for protesting in front of the White House. I’m absolutely appalled.”
