A heated exchange between a pro-life demonstrator and a DePaul student led to a physical altercation near the university’s Lincoln Park campus on Monday, Sept. 21, as seen in a video posted to social media immediately after.
Juan-Elias Riesco was demonstrating against abortion while filming himself with a tripod camera on the sidewalk at the corner of Fullerton and Sheffield avenues, next to Sanctuary Hall. Riesco, who is affiliated with the pro-life activist group Love Life Chicago, said he was on campus “telling people about Jesus Christ and exposing them to the reality of child sacrifice” in a statement to The DePaulia.
A video obtained by The DePaulia from Riesco shows a student, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, throwing Riesco’s camera equipment over a fence in response to Riesco’s speech.
The video posted to social media then shows Riesco repeatedly shoving and kicking the student, saying, “Don’t do that, bro. What’s wrong with you, bro?”
In a statement to The DePaulia, Riesco said, “I am very saddened that I was attacked today.”
He added, “People should not intentionally destroy other people’s property. That’s wrong.”
Riesco has over 380,000 followers on Facebook and 200,000 followers on Instagram. He has made a number of videos featuring DePaul students in the past weeks, according to social media posts on his account.
The student told The DePaulia he stands by his response, calling Riesco’s actions “hateful and embarrassing behavior that deserves to be pushed back against.”
“Violence against a camera doesn’t matter, violence against women does,” he said.
DePaul’s Public Safety officers witnessed the altercation, which occurred on public property, via university security cameras, according to a statement from university communications to The DePaulia. Campus security then notified the police, who responded to the scene.
The student said he did not talk to law enforcement at the scene. Riesco did not say in his statement if he talked to police on the scene or plans to contact them about the incident.
“The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority. We are committed to ensuring DePaul remains a safe and supportive environment for everyone,” the statement said in part.
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