In the face of violent attacks and unequal application of the law by woke prosecutors, conservatives must not give up but instead, like Savannah Craven Antao, lean into the legal system and utilize their constitutional rights to seek justice.
Pro-lifer Savannah Craven Antao says that she will file a lawsuit against Brianna Rivers, the woman who assaulted her during a recorded sidewalk interview.
Her decision came after the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg failed to prosecute Rivers — despite the assault having been caught on video and her repeated confessions on social media.
On April 3, Craven Antao, who works with pro-life organization Live Action, and her husband were in New York filming interviews on the street when Rivers came over to talk.
At first, the interaction was cordial. Rivers agreed to be interviewed and complimented the couple. When the conversation turned to abortion, Rivers expressed support for Planned Parenthood and argued that a pregnant woman who doesn’t want to have a child, particularly if the father is not involved, should be able to abort her child. She suggested that women in such situations might end up neglecting or abusing their children.
Craven Antao responded that it is wrong to kill a child simply because the father is absent, asking, “Should we kill the kids in foster care?”
Rivers replied, “Why not?”
She then asked, “Who’s going to take care of them? I need to know the percentage of people who take children from foster care and abuse them and molest them, who make them personal slaves. I need specifics before you come to talk to me about pro-life.”
After further debate, Craven Antao stated, “I’m not the one who admitted they would be okay with killing babies in foster care and killing children that have been abused.”
At that point, Rivers suddenly punched Craven Antao in the face twice. Craven Antao was taken to the ER, where she was stitched up and incurred more than $3,000 in medical bills.
As an experienced interviewer, Craven Antao, who is the host of the “Her Patriot Voice” on YouTube, said she is not unacquainted with hostility on the street, but the suddenness of the physical attack was something she had no way to prepare for.
Rivers was initially charged with felony assault, but it was later downgraded to a misdemeanor. After the case was shifted to a second prosecutor, Bragg’s office failed to file necessary paperwork and turn over evidence to the defense within 90 days, leading a court to dismiss the charges in July.
Bragg’s office later issued a statement: “Every victim deserves their day in court, and our office has reached out to apologize to Ms. Craven Antao for the unacceptable error of missing the discovery deadline. We are taking immediate internal steps in light of this case.”
Craven Antao says she was never informed of the dismissal and only discovered it had happened when she saw Rivers celebrating on social media.
While Rivers has publicly claimed to apologize, Craven Antao says her attacker has shown no remorse but has instead mocked her repeatedly on social media.
“I have dozens of screenshots of her liking comments saying things like, ‘You ain’t hit that girl hard enough,’ ‘You did the community a service! She [expletive] around and found out!’ ‘She deserved it 1000% never doubt urself queen!!!,” she said.
What’s more, Craven Antao noted that Rivers recorded a rap song “blaming me for her assaulting me. Someone she knew or followed on Instagram made t-shirts with an emoji face being punched that said, ‘That’s not the point!’ Which is what she said to me before punching me in the face with her phone.”
Rivers said in a social media post, “To Savannah, I sincerely apologize but cannot sit around and allow you to continue pushing this one sided narrative. I understand hands being put on someone is never the answer, but throwing rocks and hiding hands is worse. She knows the truth, and she needs to release the footage in its entirety. Savannah is a professional antagonist, not a ‘reporter’ and the truth will be told.”
Craven Antao called the DA’s handling of her case another example of left-wing violence and soft on crime district attorneys playing politics with the justice system.
She explained,
“Millions of people saw my attack, an unprovoked assault, captured on camera while I was peacefully sharing my pro-life views and engaging in respectful dialogue. Even with indisputable evidence, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office quietly let the charges fade away, as if protecting people from violence was negotiable.
Political violence should never be tolerated or given a free pass. When those in power refuse to hold accountable those who respond to free speech with violence, it threatens the very fabric of our civil society. I will not be intimidated or silenced when it comes to speaking up for the unborn, and with the support of Thomas More Society, I will keep pushing for accountability.”
Christopher Ferrara, senior counsel for the constitutional law firm, said,
“This blatant example of selective prosecution shows a troubling disregard for equal protection, leaving peaceful pro-life advocacy exposed to intimidation and violence. Savannah’s assailant may have been spared criminal consequences by the Manhattan DA’s failure, but we will see to it that she faces accountability. We will seek justice for Savannah, including punitive damages, as a lesson to those who think they can respond to pro-life speech with violence.”
Craven Antao wants her suit to be a warning to others who think about resorting to violence to silence those they disagree with.
“I was using my First Amendment right to free speech to speak about what I believe in, and on top of that, I wasn’t even saying anything that was egregious,” she said. “I want [Rivers] to understand that this is not something that she can continue to do the next time she runs into somebody she disagrees with,”
This case reiterates one clear reality about today’s politicized justice system — pro-lifers cannot get a fair shake in a blue city or a blue state.
Justice is supposed to be blind and equal. Increasingly, though, woke prosecutors and woke judges will routinely put their finger on the scale to get the outcome they want in order to advance the cause they believe in.
We saw this happen less than two months ago when a Baltimore city judge sentenced a 28-year-old man convicted of violently assaulting two elderly pro-lifers to only a short period of home detention and probation — openly defying the 10-year prison term that had been recommended by the prosecutor.
By contrast, in nearby Washington, D.C., woke Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced several elderly pro-lifers to years in prison for the “crime” of peacefully protesting and praying at an abortion clinic, conduct the judge characterized as “violent.”
Scripture warns repeatedly that the decision to turn from God’s truth and order would cause nations and societies to “call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:2).
We see it continuously in our current secular age. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, D, and Attorney General Letitia James have used their offices to harass pro-life clinics and voices while simultaneously supporting abortion clinics and shielding doctors from the consequences of breaking other states’ laws and harming women.
Violent criminals are being released without punishment and even celebrated in New York City, but Bragg imprisoned Jose Alba on murder charges because the bodega clerk had defended himself from a violent in-store attack and Bragg brought second-degree manslaughter charges against Daniel Penny, a former Marine who had stepped in to restrain a homeless man who was threatening to kill others on the subway.
And increasingly those like Craven Antao who try to use their First Amendment rights to speak, debate, and attempt to persuade others are being assaulted and even killed, while their attackers are given a pass or celebrated.
All of this only creates more violence — and perhaps that is the point. A Marxist government relies on chaos, fear, and inequality to punish its ideological opponents in hopes of silencing them. The message that’s being sent to radical leftists is this: When you can’t beat ‘em, punch ‘em.
So, how should Christians and conservatives respond?
For starters, we cannot give up on the justice system. Craven Antao is doing the right thing by bringing a suit against her attacker. As we’ve seen in so many cases, bringing suits and refusing to compromise your principles can pay off and help others by restoring constitutional rights, judicial order, and hard-earned justice.
Secondly, Christians must do their research and vote in every single election for every single position and issue on the ballot. For years, decades even, most Americans have paid very little, if any, attention to the critical positions of prosecutor and judge, and society is now paying in numerous ways for that apathy.
Finally, we must never stop speaking out. In fact, we must all be willing, like Craven Antao, to go out and tell people the truth — even if people don’t want to hear it.
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