The News You May Have Missed: October 2024

Justice for the Prayer Warrior

West Midlands Police paid $16,800 in compensation to Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a Christian woman they twice arrested for praying silently near an abortion facility in Birmingham, England (Catholic News Agency, Aug. 19). The settlement comes as the U.K. government plans to extend its crackdown on silent prayer near abortion facilities by labeling it “criminal.” Vaughan-Spruce, director of March for Life UK, was first arrested in December 2022 for “engaging in an act that is intimidating to service users.” Though acquitted of the charges, she was arrested again in March 2023 for the same activity. “Silent prayer is not a crime,” Vaughan-Spruce said in a statement. “Nobody should be arrested merely for the thoughts they have in their heads — yet this happened to me twice at the hands of the West Midlands Police, who explicitly told me that ‘prayer is an offense.’” Vaughan-Spruce had issued a claim against the police for “two wrongful arrests and false imprisonments; assault and battery in relation to an intrusive search of her person; and for a breach of her human rights both in respect to the arrests and to the onerous bail conditions imposed on her.”

District of Crime

Washington, D.C., has again earned the dubious distinction of being the least desirable city in America, according to a recent survey (New York Post, Aug. 14). For the second year running, the nation’s capitol has topped the list of places Americans would least want to live, with a whopping 33 percent of survey respondents ranking it among the top five worst cities due to its sky-high living costs and a surge in crime, as 2023 saw 274 murders — the highest number in over two decades. Some residents claim Mayor Muriel Bowser’s “equitable” approach to crime has destroyed their quality of life. New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco also landed on the list of least desirable cities, largely due to their unaffordable housing markets, while Baltimore, known for leading the nation in murders and robberies, ranks seventh. On the flip side, Tampa, Florida, has been crowned America’s most desirable city for 2024. With year-round warmth, low crime, and homes that are more affordable than in other major cities, 23 percent of respondents placed Tampa in the top five best cities.

None of the Above

A Texas man legally changed his name to Literally Anybody Else so he can apply for a particularly difficult-to-get job: president of the United States (United Press International, July 18). The 35-year-old military veteran and middle school math teacher, formerly known as Dustin Ebey, is running for president to protest the major-party candidates, Kamala Harris, current vice president, and Donald Trump, former president, and to show his distaste for an electoral system that “often prioritizes partisan battles over real solutions.” Mr. Else is running a write-in campaign in his home state, where he did not get the required 113,000 signatures to appear on the ballot; he is expected to be on the Tennessee ballot, where he did get the required number of signatures. “It’s not necessarily about drawing attention to my grievances,” Else said, “but about giving a place for anyone who shares these grievances to come together to a focal point.” Else announced Neal David Sutz, a New York man currently living in Switzerland, as his running mate.