A woman who protested a groundbreaking for a pregnancy center in Lakeland was later arrested, and accused of battery on a law-enforcement officer for throwing women’s underwear toward him.
Options for Women held the ceremony Tuesday afternoon at its property at 4504 S. Florida Ave., where it plans to construct a building to replace a portable structure.
A Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputy, Capt. Billy Strickland, attended the event as a representative of the agency. PCSO spokesperson Scott Wilder said that Options for Women had invited Sheriff Grady Judd, who was unable to attend, and sent Strickland in his absence.
After the ceremony had ended, Strickland was standing on a low stage under a temporary tent with Florida Rep. Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland, who had spoken at the event. According to the arrest affidavit, they had their backs turned to the Lakeland Women’s Health Center, where Bonnie Patterson-James and other advocates for abortion rights had gathered.
The PSCO report offers this description: As Strickland and Canady posed for a photo, Patterson-James stood on the fence line of the boundary between the two properties. She threw a rolled-up pair of women’s panties held together by a sticker toward the stage, and it hit Strickland on the right leg.
When Strickland turned to see where the item had come from, Patterson-James, 55, looked at him and said, “That did not hit you!”
Strickland was dressed in his green uniform with patches on each arm, making it obvious he was a sheriff’s deputy, the affidavit said.
Patterson-James dropped to the ground and “merged in with other protesters out of sight.” Strickland went to the clinic property and asked to speak to the person who threw the underwear, and someone present called out, “Bonnie, they want to talk to you.”
Strickland identified Patterson-James from her brightly dyed red hair, pink shirt, and red-framed sunglasses. A well-known local advocate for abortion rights, she had stood behind the fence throughout the Options for Women ceremony, calling out criticisms of the center and the anti-abortion movement as Canady and others spoke to an invited audience.
Strickland approached Patterson-James, who refused to identify herself, the affidavit said. When told she was going to be arrested, she stepped back into a group of people on the clinic property and said that she would not be arrested. She admitted to throwing the item but said she didn’t think it had hit Strickland.
The deputy eventually identified Patterson-James, a Lakeland resident, but did not arrest her at the scene. On Thursday, a deputy pulled over her vehicle on the Polk Parkway for failing to signal while merging, PCSO said. The deputy learned of an outstanding warrant and arrested Patterson-James on two counts: battery on a law enforcement officer, a third-degree felony, and resisting arrest without violence, a first-degree misdemeanor.
The Options for Women property is in Lakeland, and two Lakeland Police Department officers attended Tuesday’s event. They were on extra-duty detail, LPD spokesperson Robin Tillett said.
PCSO deputies have the authority to make arrests for crimes that occur anywhere in the county, spokesperson Scott Wilder said.
Patterson-James is the founder of Lakeland Inclusive Diverse Voice, an organization that has coordinated demonstrations for abortion rights.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promptly signed the bill into law, though its validity hinges upon a ruling of the state Supreme Court, which is reviewing legal challenges to a law passed last year setting the abortion threshold at 15 weeks.
The Florida National Organization for Women issued a press release Friday condemning the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for the arrest. It said that a video taken on Tuesday captured Strickland saying the thrown underwear bounced and then hit his leg.
In a video posted on TikTok by Swan City Clinic Defenders, a group of volunteers at the Lakeland facility, Strickland said the item hit him on the back of the leg.
“The Polk County Sheriff’s Office supports peaceful protest across the board,” Wilder said in an email. “When either side of an issue begins throwing things at others, the protest is no longer peaceful. We will take enforcement action when that occurs in our jurisdiction and in our presence. If someone unlawfully throws something and it hits a law enforcement officer in our presence, we will take enforcement action every time.”
Bonnie Patterson-James was released on bond early Friday morning.
They let them kill and destroy the White House. They are suggesting to dismiss the charges if certain politicians are elected. But a pair of panties is so dangerous? America, REALLY?
Violence is violence even if it’s a soft garment…if she gets away with it, next time she’ll throw a rock. So much for love, acceptance and tolerance. Bonnie clearly demonstrates bigotry.