- In other news, pro-lifesidewalk counselors

arrested recently inCharlotte, North Carolina,

are taking action against the city.

They say they followedsocial distancing guidelines

and did nothing wrongleading to their arrest.

Take a look at the exchange

between former reality TV star, Christian,

and outspoken pro-liferDavid Benham and police

before the arrest earlier this month.

- We are practicing social distancing.

We have cleaned our hands.

We are offering help to these mothers.

And if you're saying that we don't

have the right to be here, then go

in the abortion clinicand make the arrest there.

- [Officer] I don't have the authority

to go in the abortion clinic.

- So you don't have the authority

to go in the abortion clinic,

but you have the authority to bully us

and our sidewalk counselors.- I'm not bullying

you.- Yes, you are.

- [Officer] I'm being as nice as I

can be.- Yes, you, no.

You're trying to be nice?

That's passive-aggressive.

But guess what's happening?

I'm not budging, andour sidewalk counselors

are not budging.

- [Officer] I respectyour rights, believe me,

but at this time, can youplease step over there?

- [David] I'll step over here,yes, sir, I certainly will.

- [Officer] Thank you.

- But you know we're right.

You know we're right.

And I appreciate you serving, I appreciate

everything that you do for us--

- [Officer] Yes, sir.

- But this is wrong, and you know it.

You cannot tell us to leave.

- Benham and others werearrested and later released

that day, and believe theywere unfairly targeted

while the clinic continued to operate.

They, along with thepro-life group Cities4Life,

are standing up to the cityand for their civil liberties.

I spoke with journalistand radio talk show host

Todd Starnes for more on their story.

(air whooshes)

Todd, what's the latest outof Charlotte, North Carolina,

in the case of the pro-lifedemonstrators being arrested?

- Well, there's some good news to report.

Alliance Defending Freedom,one of the nation's

top religious liberty law firms, has filed

a federal lawsuit againstthe city of Charlotte.

As the story goes, that you had

a lot of pro-lifers,part of a local ministry,

and they were doing sidewalk counseling.

So they were not protesting,they were actually

offering counseling to the young ladies

going into this abortion clinic.

Among those in that group,a good friend of mine,

David Benham, from the Benham Brothers,

and many of the individualsthere were arrested

and they were charged withviolating the stay-at-home order.

They were also punished for violating

the social distancing orders,

but it was very clear,based on the video evidence,

that they in fact wereengaging appropriately

and they were followingthe letter of the law.

- A lot of other medicalservices have been suspended

in light of COVID mandates.

Are abortion clinics getting a pass, Todd?

- Yeah, imagine this.

I mean, it's really amazing where we are

in America right now, where you can go

and get an abortion, but you cannot go

to your church, it is illegal.

For example, in Kentucky, they actually

allowed abortion clinicsin the city of Louisville

to remain open, but theyliterally shut down the churches,

and they told these churches,"You are not allowed

"to gather even in your parking lot

"for a drive-through service,"

and this is happeningall over the country,

including in Charlotte, North Carolina.

So the idea that if youwanna have elective surgery,

let's say you wanna get,I don't know, a nose job,

you can't get a nose job right now.

You gotta make do with thenose the good Lord gave you.

But if you wanna get an abortion,

well, you can just head right on down

to the street and getyourself an abortion.

That is absolutely unacceptable.

- What is the bigger picture here,

the greater concern overall?

- Well, I've been preaching about this

for quite some time on my radio show.

I believe the greaterthreat is not the virus,

but it's the attack onour civil liberties.

Look, a lot of Americans were very willing

to listen to their governmentand trust their government.

They said, "You know what, folks?

"We've gotta step back, we've gotta

"shut everything down, andwe're gonna get back to normal."

Well, you know what?

We're a couple of months into this now,

and things are not back to normal,

and the concern is once yourelinquish your freedom,

once you relinquish your liberty,

it's hard to get that back.

And I think a lot of people are waking up

and they're realizing, "Wait a second,

"I can't go out to the local skate park

"and ride my skateboard?

"I can't go out into thePacific Ocean and paddleboard?

"How is that possibly puttingpeople in harm's way?"

So I think, ultimately,this is the bigger concern,

is that we may not get backsome of those civil liberties.

- What do you advise Americansto do in light of that?

- Well, look, I thinkwe have an obligation.

We, the people, have anobligation to stand up,

and we have to fight for our rights,

and that's one of thereasons I've been so excited

to see these Liberateprotests that popped up

across the country, becauselaw-abiding American citizens,

if they don't stand upand defend their rights,

nobody's gonna do it for them.

So, again, we have to be civillambs, but not silent lambs.

- [Mark] All right, Todd Starnes.

Thanks so much for yourinsight, sir, appreciate it.