A Little Rock canvasser had a heated interaction with local police on Thursday in an incident that was live-streamed on Facebook.
Veronica McClane has been working to collect signatures for the Arkansas Abortion Amendment which is being pushed by the group Arkansans for Limited Government. If approved by voters, the proposal would legalize abortion in Arkansas up to the 18th week of pregnancy.
McClane took off work Thursday around lunchtime to collect signatures at a free food giveaway event organized by the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission. McClane did not coordinate with the commission ahead of time, but was hoping to capitalize on the event to collect signatures.
When the incident happened, she was standing outside the music venue The Hall at the corner of South State Street and West Ninth Street in downtown Little Rock.
McClane says she was prevented from gathering signatures by an LRPD officer who mentioned Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in his interaction with her.
McClane said her interaction with police started after she walked up to the first car that was in line. She said the woman in the car was receptive to sign the amendment before they were stopped. She then started a Facebook live stream of the event.
“I’m live,” she says in the opening moments of the video.
As he motions for her to move, Officer Christopher Tollette mentions his past experiences with other canvassers.
“What I've been telling everyone to do,” he says, “If you don't want to believe what the governor says…” Tollette then becomes hard to hear before he corrects himself and says the Martin Luther King Commission didn't want them to collect signatures on private property.
The commission was created by an act passed by the State Legislature. The group operates through The Department of Education. They were given almost $350 thousand from the state for 2023 to 2024.
LRPD spokesperson Mark Edwards reiterated this version of events. He wasn't at the food giveaway, but offered an alternate explanation of the incident.
“The petitioner said, 'if you don't sign this petition, you can't get your food,'” Edwards said. “When the worker heard him say that, the worker said ‘that's not true,’ and alerted our officers.”
Edwards didn't say who this canvasser in question was, but McClane is adamant that neither she nor anyone supporting the abortion amendment forces people to sign petitions.
McClane still believes there is collusion happening between Gov. Sarah Sanders and the police. Edwards denies that emphatically.
“The governor has nothing to do with this," said Edwards, adding that the officer “misspoke” before he corrected himself.
McClane said after her initial interaction with Tollette, she called an attorney and ceased collecting signatures until they arrived. According to Edwards, LRPD Assistant Chief Andre Dyer also came to the scene.
“And he said there was a quote-unquote 'misunderstanding,'” McClane said. “And he was going to allow us to canvass as long as we did not impede the flow of traffic.”
McClane left a few hours later. By all accounts, the event was peaceful for the rest of the day.
“I’m mad that I even had to go through all of that just to exercise my constitutional right,” McClane said.
She connected the incident to Decline to Sign, a group organized around opposing the abortion amendment. They often saddle up next to signature gatherers and try to talk passersby out of signing the petitions, or just generally counter protest by holding up signs with pictures of fetuses.
There is no evidence police officers at the Thursday event support Decline To Sign.
