Abortion rights advocates gathered Friday outside Honolulu District Court in support of a San Francisco woman charged with harassment for an incident involving a man who was protesting against an abortion rights march in Waikiki in June.
Aleada “Saber” Minton was originally accused of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, but the charge was reduced Feb. 15 to harassment, with a bench trial on the petty misdemeanor scheduled for Friday. However, District Judge Harlen Kimura continued the trial to Monday due to several unrelated cases being heard before Minton’s trial could begin.
Her supporters called for the state to drop the harassment charge, saying Minton merely took video of anti- abortion protester James Kelii Wallace as he “confronted protesters with a graphic sign and megaphone, spewed hateful anti-abortion lies, and aggressively videoed individual protesters with his phone.”
Wallace said outside the courthouse Friday that Minton used her camera to hit his megaphone, jamming it into his lip. He said he did not seek medical attention because he wasn’t bleeding.
Wallace, 49, is a frequent protester at abortion rights and LGBTQ events. He said he’s been protesting in front of the Planned Parenthood clinic and at abortion rights rallies for the past 10 years because it’s his “calling” and “vocation.” Wallace said he earns a living as a cabinetmaker.
Members of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights Hawaii and Refuse Fascism Honolulu who held a news conference outside the courthouse Friday described Wallace as a “well-known provocateur” who is often seen harassing patients, employees and others entering the Planned Parenthood clinic in Honolulu and at women’s marches and abortion rights and LGBTQ events.
Minton’s attorney, Daphne Barbee, said that during their encounter at the Waikiki march in June, Wallace called Minton, who is Black, the N-word and said she belongs caged in a zoo and should commit suicide, along with other hateful remarks.
Grace Alvaro Caligtal, speaking on her own behalf, said she has seen Wallace protesting often outside the Planned Parenthood Clinic for the past six years that she’s worked there. She said he has made it difficult for those entering and exiting the building, including teen educators who are there not to get an abortion, but to help educate other teens.
Liz Rees said Minton rightfully confronted and challenged Wallace. “We are demanding charges against Saber be dropped,” she said. “She was wrongfully arrested.”
The trial has been a hardship for Minton, a professional camera operator for concerts and events, who paid about $3,000 for travel to Hawaii and for lodging for herself and her partner, who will serve as a witness at the trial.
