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Dearborn, MI Street Report


Dearborn, MI Street Reports

Street Report
Dearborn, MI
November 15, 2006
Chris Coatney reporting

1) I was told today that the Lennon Center, a Crisis Pregnancy Center in Dearborn Heights, has a need for 32 baby cribs. Nearly 1000 babies were brought into the world last year with their help, and the number grows every year as more and more people hear about their services. If you can help, please contact them at 313-277-5637 or visit their website at www.lennoncenter.org.

2) I spoke with Myisha, a 21 year old black girl from Detroit, in front of the baby killer's place in Dearborn today. Mysiha almost had an abortion a year or two ago but someone in front of the baby killer's place talked her out of it and she has two beautiful twins today as a result. She thinks that someone was me, but it was actually the Holy Spirit working through me and one other person who was out there that day.

Myisha went to another killing place last July and had an abortion but she came to Dearborn today because she's pregnant again and thinking about having an abortion. We spoke for several minutes and she showed me a picture of her twins on her car phone. I asked if the new baby's father, who is also the father of the twins, wants to help, and she said not really. I mentioned that is one reason not to have sex until you get married and she started crying.

I led her in a short prayer to accept Jesus Christ as Saviour. She gave me her phone number, which I have given to four other people and asked them to call. One is a brother who goes to church about a mile from where she lives. Another is Cherie, the homeless woman I asked you to pray for last summer. She is doing fine and even went to church with me Sunday night. Her twins are due in December and their father is involved in her life, but they have never been to church, even though he says he's a Christian. Please pray for their relationship.

3) Sunday night was also the first time I've been to church in about two years. I've been a Christian for over 30 years and love going to church but it is hard to work a full time job and spend 30 hours a week in front of a killing center with little or no help.

I've been very disappointed in the lack of love in the thousands of local churches who say they are prolife but do little or nothing to actually help stop the bloodshed. I used to pray with Christians at work all the time but none of them have ever joined me at the killing center - the most anyone has ever done is wave as they drive by in their car. I'm tired of the hypocrisy.

I would like to pray that Christians put not just their money, but their time and energy to work putting an end to the holocaust and fight - really fight - for these children, as if their own lives were at stake. If Christians were as concerned about death by abortion as they are about death by Al Quaida there would be no abortion "clinics" in America.

What about you, Christian friend? Are you willing to lay down your life for these children to save them? Are you willing to lose your life to save it?


May 4, 2005

For several months Chris Coatney has been dealing with the City of Dearborn regarding his bus with abortion signs attached. Police tell him that it's illegal to park a bus on the city streets. They quote a law that says cabs can only be parked at cab stands and buses at bus stops, but Chris says that law refers to taxicabs on duty, because off-duty cabs can be parked anywhere. He points out that school, church, and tour buses are often parked on city streets for concerts, religious and sporting events, political rallies, and trips to museums.

Most prolifers will discern that while Chris has repeatedly gotten ticketed on this spurious charge, the unspoken complaint is not the bus but the large ugly pictures of aborted babies. The agenda is not safety, the city wants to staunch the flow of information about the horror of abortion.

It's interesting to note that in a conversation mentioned in Chris' report that follows, city employees reveal their love of death and their view that death is the answer to problems.


Chris Coatney
May 4, 2005

Some good news, some bad.

All told, we spent about 4 hours in court today. The prosecutor agreed to dismiss the 2 crosswalk tickets. The 4 "parking at other than a bus stop" tickets were upheld by the judge.

My attorney, Gerard Garno, and the prosecutor spent about an hour discussing the case in chambers with the judge before the hearing. He came out saying the judge was dead set against me. (It turns out he was appointed by our pro-abort Gov. Granholm.)

I won't go through all the details of the hearing because they are hard to follow and I'm not sure I understand all the legal reasoning. Three of the witnesses I called were not there and I was not able to present evidence that the city was discriminating against me.

I'll be seeking a law firm to appeal the decision, seek a Federal injunction, or start all over again from Point A. Gerard would like to help but he has a family of 9 children to feed and thinks an attorney or law firm who specializes in this type of law would handle it better. If that doesn't happen, maybe I'll find a trailer, hitch it up to the back of my van, and use that instead of the bus - some day, but not today. I'm tired and starting to run low on money.

While Gerard and I were out of the courtroom, before the hearing started, a friend who came to the hearing said she heard the bailiff and court stenographer discussing my bus.

One of them wondered out loud if I had driven the bus to court and parked it outside.

One said people are "p_____ off" because of declining property values, can't sell their houses (because of my bus).

One said, "You know the problem is going to go away - he'll get sick or croak - no one else is going to drive that thing."

It wouldn't surprise me if they are right.

Yesterday when I was done at the mill I sat in my van trying to recuperate from the emotional strain and effects of sleep deprivation. An African-American brother named Andre Carlisle who reads meters for MichCon happened to walk by. We had spoken previously about abortion and he had been a real encouragement. He also said he wanted to do something to get his church, Gospel Tabernacle in Detroit, involved. Yesterday Andre told me his church is afraid to preach against abortion because so many in the congregation have had them the pastors are afraid the church will lose members.

Andre stood there looking in the window of my van preaching the Word for about a half an hour, quoting the Bible right and left. I agreed with everything he said but I was so tired and discouraged I could hardly say a word. Occasionally I would utter a "Yes" or "Amen", but that's about all I could handle. I don't remember everything he said, but it was a real pep talk and picked up my spirits. It's hard to find people who are concerned about butchered babies in pagan, post-Christian, pledge-allegiance-to-the-theory-of-evolution, devil-worshiping America.

Andre said he and his wife would like to buy a couple of cheap houses in Detroit and convert them to homes for unwed mothers as a refuge from the hell of abortion. I told him I would try to get him in touch with a couple of African-American brothers who have gotten involved in prolife outreach. If you are such a person, or even if you aren't, feel free to contact him at godscc2@aol.com or 313-207-1391.

I received a couple of other blessings at the death camp yesterday. An African-American girl who said she was a Jehovah's Witness stopped and asked for brochures she could mail to her 3 sisters. She said she might come back and join us some day.

Also, a young African-American girl stopped and held a sign with us for about 15 minutes. She had been walking down the street with her brother but came back later to help us. She goes to Detroit Urban Lutheran High School but said she is not a Christian. We talked about the Bible for a while, but she showed more love for the unborn in the time she spent with us than most Christians, who have never once prayed at a death camp.

It looked like a good outreach at the NAACP fundraiser Sunday. My bus was in a garage with the axle off being repaired so I spent some time looking for a U-Haul trailer to hook up to my van and tape some signs to it. I eventually found the right kind of trailer but the electrical hookup wasn't right, so I decided to just go with what I had. I taped signs to the front, rear, and both sides of my 1990 Econoline 250 and cruised over to Cobo Hall about 5:30. There on the sidewalk were about 30-40 prolifers spread out on both sides of the corner opposite Cobo passing out literature and holding signs. Considering there were only 4 people on foot when I was down there with my bus last year that was a big improvement!

I was followed by a police car briefly and realized that my brake lights were covered up by a sign. The police car eventually left and I pulled over at the first opportunity and re-arranged my signs. By the time I made it back to Cobo most of the prolifers, who had been there since 3 or 3:30, had left, but a contingent of 8 or 10 stayed until about 6:30. I stayed until 9 PM, when I had to leave for work anyway, as the fundraiser was over about 8:00 and it took about an hour for most people to clear out.

One young lady pulled up next to me in her car at a light, said she liked my signs, and asked me what organization I was with. I said, "Look on the sign, black genocide." Then I remembered I had literature in the van and passed some out to her boyfriend through the window. Another lady crossing the street with a couple of friends asked me why I called it "black" genocide. My bus had room for a sign that says, "1/3 of all aborted U.S. babies are black" but I didn't have room for it on my van. I tried to explain but I'm not sure if she understood. (For those who don't know, check out www.blackgenocide.org or www.klanparenthood.com.)

A friend from Canada whom I've never met asked me if I'm black. I said I'm not sure. I've never really met any truly black or white people. Most of the people I've met are light brown, dark brown, or somewhere in between. The way I look at is, if one of us is hurting we're all hurting. I'm part Native American, but everyone calls me white. If I were part African-American, everyone would call me black. It doesn't matter what color the baby is, but if we're going to stop the abortion holocaust we're going to have to reach out to the people who are most affected by it. That does not mean sweeping it under the rug.



February 8, 2005

Chris Coatney reporting

One baby, at least, was saved on Friday. An Arabic woman chose life after seeing the aborted baby pictures. The woman who accompanied her, an American named Shannon, who works as a waitress at Al Shalal restaurant at Warren and Telegraph, was hostile when I first spoke to her. But she was all smiles when they left, saying that she herself was against abortion, too. Perhaps the hostility was the result of a guilty conscience? I told her I'd ask any friends in the area to stop in for a cup of coffee and say hello to her!

A salesman for a beer distributor around the corner from the mill stood with us for a half an hour Thursday. He said he was brought up Catholic and had seven brothers and sisters. He said his mother had three miscarriages, one, a year-to-the-day before he was born. Because that little girl was going to be named Kimberly his mother gave him Kim as a middle name, and that's the name he goes by. He said he drove a truck for 30 years but became a salesman after his knee went out. I remained silent about his occuipation because drinking has caused a lot of problems in my family but I was glad that he cared enough to join us!

Stanley and I also had a day in court Thursday. It went pretty smoothly for the police department. They had a sympathetic magistrate who didn't think people should have to look out their living room window and see aborted baby pictures every day. It's no problem that little babies are being mutilated and killed down the street, just don't remind us of it!

Stanley was ticketed for parking his car too close to the crosswalk but cars have always parked there as long as I've been witnessing at the death camp and no one else has ever gotten a ticket for that other than him or me. I've called the police three times since then to report other cars parked in the same spot but in each case the police refused to ticket the vehicles. I got two of the officers' responses on tape. They said the cars were not a hazard to anyone because it's a 3-way (T-shaped) intersection, which is exactly what Stanley tried to tell the judge. The curb is indented at that spot to provide parking for townhouse residents.

I had pictures of cars legally parked three feet away from a crosswalk in the middle of the block at city hall per city signs allowing 10 or 15 minute parking. If that isn't a double standard, what it is? Unfortunately, the judge would not let me speak on Stanley's behalf and Stanley, didn't know how to explain the pictures. The only crime Stanley was guilty of was having a prolife banner with an 800 Crisis Pregnancy hotline number on his vehicle that day. Isn't that terrible? Stanley doesn't want to spend any more time in court than he has to and went ahead and paid the fine, but I'm not giving up without a fight.

The city is trying to tell me that it's illegal to park a bus on the city streets. They're quoting a law that says cabs can only be parked at cab stands and buses at bus stops. The only problem is that the law refers to taxicabs on duty, because off-duty cabs can be parked anywhere. I've seen school, church, and tour buses parked on city streets in various communities many times for concerts, religious and sporting events, political rallies, and trips to museums. If you go to UM Stadium in Ann Arbor on a football Saturday you will see 20-30 buses lined up at the south end of the stadium with nary a bus stop in sight.

Are we the salt of the earth, or the sleeping pills of the earth? Wake up church, before it's too late...please? I'd appreciate your help. A million dollars won't do me a bit of good. I can only pass out so much literature; I can only drive so many vehicles. I'd appreciate a few hardy souls willing to brave the elements and the hard looks and insulting comments of a lost and dying world.



January 31, 2005

Chris Coatney

Monday, Jan.31st - Just Vern and I made it. Some of the other regulars got confused about the switch from Tuesdays to Mondays. Nevertheless it was and always is productive with just two. "Where two or more are gathered in my name...", Jesus said he would be in their midst. We had really all we needed. And so, with sign and rosary in hand(s) we did our thing.

Tuesday, Feb.1st - Again two - John and Michael. The Highlight - The Post Star newspaper showed up. The woman journalist approached John and asked "How do you feel about the fact that your presence here generates money for Planned Parenthood?" John told her he was not concerned about money but about that next baby being brought to slaughter. She was surprised to know that John already knew about this. She asked if he was aware that Planned Parenthood receives donations based on the number of picketers that show up to protest abortion. John emphasized further that he, and all the protesters are very aware, but again, money is not the issue, the babies are. She asked John if she could quote him and use his name? John told her no because the Post Star has proven to be irresponsible time and again with quotes and portrayals in the past. She promised she would be fair and quote him exact. She pleaded with him and finally John gave in based on her promise.

Friday the article came out. It was the main headline on the front page which included a large picture of John with his sign "In God's Court Abortion is Murder!" The headline read "Pledges fund clinic programs by counting pickets in front of facility" The article was good and bad. Overall I would take it. The good included the front page picture and the fact the Planned Parenthood spokesman overstated our numbers. She said that they collect donations for each of the two thousand or so different picketers that picket their facilities regularly. The bad side to this article is the journalist (Kate Perry) did not quote what she promised she would quote and didn't really dig beneath the surface. It lacked substance.

Monday, Feb.7th - Caleb, Josh, Fr. Francis, John, Bruce, Marie, Vern, Mal and his wife Joan were all in attendance. We broke into three groups. We had the Catholic rosary group front in center. We had the Free Methodist group with their signs across the street. And we had our confrontationalists across the PP driveway. Later we all came together in prayer and witness and conversation. It's funny, this dynamic. It kind of falls into place naturally.

Tuesday, Feb.8th - We have got the Monday - Tuesday deal working for now. Michael will be the main man on Tuesdays. Many times he is joined by several off our sub-list: Deacon Larry, Steve Solimento, Rob and his family, Tom, Bill, and the list goes on. "Keep us afloat O Lord!"



January 5, 2005

By Chris Coatney

Yesterday I spoke with a young man who said his wife was at the mill for her second abortion (they have 3 children). He said he was against the abortion and had told his wife he would leave her if she went through with it, but she was determined. He said he was a Christian but doesn't go to church right now and we talked about his relationship with the Lord. I said I didn't think he should leave his wife and encouraged him to sit with her, hug her, tell her he loved her, and plead with her for the child. He said he'd tried that already so I told him not to give up and to pray out loud while sitting in the waiting room, even if it meant getting kicked out. We did pray for a miracle, though I wasn't real confident that anything would happen.

A short while later I explained the situation to the Catholics who came to pray and went across the street to the bus to prepare more information packets. While across the street I noticed the same woman come outside and walk over to the car, where her husband was sitting, and then go back inside. I tried to cross the street to speak to her but she went back in before I made it across the street.

When the Catholics were done praying they said they thought their prayers had gotten through to the woman because it looked to them like she wanted to leave, but that her husband had yelled and cussed at her to get back inside the building. In other words, it looked to them like he was the one who was pressuring her to get the abortion, not vice versa.

One of the Catholics, who is a retired employee of Friend of the Court, stayed with me for a while, and I called the police and asked them to send an officer out to make sure the woman wasn't being coerced, because that's against the law. I was hesitant because I wasn't sure of the circumstances in this situation but I talked to 3 or 4 different police officers on the phone and explained that to them and they decided to send a car out to make sure.

The officer who arrived went inside for a couple of minutes but when he came out said the woman told him everything was fine. He was a little ticked off about having to come out and "waste his time," as he put it. Yet, not more than 5 or 10 minutes after he left, the woman also left with her husband and his uncle, saying she was going to keep the baby. I plan to send a letter to the police department thanking them for their help and giving thanks to them that a baby was saved as a result of their efforts! I'm still not sure what the true story was about who wanted the abortion and who didn't, but I feel certain that the presence of a uniformed police officer helped the woman realize that she truly had other options besides killing her baby.

So far it looks like 13 or 14 babies have been killed so far this week I'm not sure how many women have chosen life, but I have been able to pass out a substantial amount of literature.

Another praise report: a minister from a small Church of God stopped by with his wife in the afternoon and said he'd like to get involved. He said he was involved in prolife outreach in S. Carolina with a group called Pastors for Life, which has since disbanded, but that he hadn't met anyone involved in that kind of ministry since moving to Michigan. He said he'd like to get together with me soon and talk about it. This could be a real answer to prayer; his church is not far from Open Door, the church I used to attend, which closed down recently. Please pray that more Christians respond to the call of God to reach out to save the children and to save the lost.

The police are giving me a hard time about parking my bus on Schaefer Rd. The city has put up No Parking signs twice in places I've parked my bus. They can't do that now because I'm parking in front of some townhouses where the residents park. It's public parking but they've ticketed me 3 times, citing a law that says buses can only park at bus stops and taxicabs at cab stands. I think that refers to vehicles for hire because I drove a cab several years ago and you could park anywhere as long as you were off duty. I have an informal hearing on the first ticket scheduled Feb. 3. Please pray that it will be dismissed, because I plan to keep parking the bus in the same place until then. I just feel the presence of those prolife signs and pictures is too essential to this ministry.

I do plan to go to Womancare in Lathrup Village again this Thursday from 7 AM until 2 or 3 PM, unless the snow is so bad that it closes down. At least one friend, and possibly three, plan to meet me there. Please feel free to join us if you can.

Stop organized crime; repeal Roe v. Wade!


December 24, 2004

By Chris Coatney

I drove the bus to Womancare again yesterday and stayed for about 8 hours. It took longer than usual to get up there because of the snow (6-8 inches). The black Hummer which is parked there every day was already there when I arrived at 7:30, but there was just enough room for me to squeeze the bus in behind it. I thought it would be slow, with the snow, and it being 2 days before Christmas. But at least 45 cars pulled into the lot while I was there, although all but about 10-12 were gone by the time I left at 3:30. I'm guessing that at least 15 or 16 were there for abortions. One couple from Holland, Mi. changed their minds and left, praise God!

I'm not sure I had anything to with it. It was a young couple planning on getting married. He's joining the Navy and said they couldn't afford a child. He was hostile when they went inside but a lot friendlier when they came out. I asked why they changed their minds and he said the abortion would have cost $2000 (she was 22 weeks pregnant). He said they decided it wasn't worth it. I said, "You better believe it wasn't worth it!"

They said they were Christians, and took all the literature I had. He said it took 3-1/2 hours to drive because of the snow. I told them if they called the Crisis Pregnancy number here in town they would locate a CPC closer to their home.

I was able to give literature to 10 other people including a black couple who pulled in just to look at the bus. One girl said, "I used to be where you are." I thought she meant on the sidewalk, picketing, but she probably meant pro-life. She took the literature, and I encouraged her to come out and join us.

Just before I left about 3:30, a young female employee came out and drove the Hummer away. For all I know it might be her vehicle, or she may have been running an errand for the boss. She accused me of "hurting women" (probably a reference to the graphic pictures, which indicates they may have had some effect). I told her I thought it was the other way around.

A man in blue scrubs came outside and walked around briefly 3 or 4 times during the afternoon. I'm guessing he was the abortionist, though I'm not sure. I was pleasant to him and asked if he'd like some literature to read. He didn't say anything. Hopefully, we'll meet again.

NOTE: On Christmas day, Chris sent word that his bus had been bombed. He sent the following pictures.

Chris reports: In the first picture, of the bomb fragments, you may be able to make out what's left of the fuse in the neck of the bottle in the lower left corner. You can also see a blackened area where the fuel burned itself out on the ground.

In the second picture you can see the broken window, with a blue tarp hanging on one side of the bus, which is about 100-120 feet from the street. I had never covered the other side of the bus when I parked it there with signs attached because there is a red picket fence about head high, and leafy trees and bushes pretty much blocked the signs. But since the leaves fell off, the upper part of the signs were visible over the fence from the other street, about the same distance away. Since this incident I've made sure to keep both sides covered and so far there have been no repetitions.



December 2004

Chris Coatney

I will be driving the bus to Womancare in Lathrup Village again tomorrow morning for about 4 hours. Three people joined me last week, each at different times, but for an hour or two. I normally don't like to leave the mill in Dearborn but there may be a chance to help get a regular outreach started at this mill. The Messianic rabbi who was there last week can't make it tomorrow but said he would announce it at the Bible study tonight in case anyone else wants to go. A group of Catholics does witness there on Saturdays but no one goes there during the week to my knowledge.

The Muslim woman whom I thought had an abortion a week or two ago apparently did not. She came back to do the evil deed last week but changed her mind through the prayer and intercession of the saints. Her sister, who dropped her off and picked her up, was very grateful.

It's so exciting when you see women refuse your every attempt to talk or pass out literature, and then at the last minute roll down the window and stick out their hand, just before pulling out into traffic.

Two of the 3 or 4 women who aborted today left the mill in tears. One buried her head in the car door as her boyfriend sat there eating a snack and looking at her with the "Duh" expression on his face before driving away. I had a chance to talk to her while the car was stopped for the red light. I rebuke women who are arrogant about killing their children, but I spoke of Christ's love and forgiveness to this woman who was so obviously hurting from the depth of her soul.