Onlookers react to abortion protest

Flip Benham, leader of Concord-based evangelical Christian group Operation Save America, led an anti-abortion protest Tuesday in uptown Charlotte.

Armed with a microphone and large graphic images, Benham spoke at the corner of Stonewall and College Streets, right in front of the Convention Center. Abortion was Benham's main focus, but he also talked about homosexuality.

Onlookers mostly ignored the group except for the occasional cheer or boo. One passerby approached Benham and said "I love you." Benham's response: "No you don't. You lust me. You don't love me."


Later, two Mormon missionaries approached Benham to offer him a pretzel. A conversation about beliefs followed.


Malcolm Peck, 19, (green shirt) and Trevor Brown, 20, (purple shirt) are in Charlotte for their mission. The two are originally from Utah and said they don't know who they're going to vote for.

Peck said the church stays politically neutral but "pushes us to be involved in politics."

The two said they approached Benham because of the way he was protesting, not necessarily the content.