You probably remember there were a string of vandalism attacks on pro-life organizations last year. I wrote about several incidents here. One of the more serious incidents happened in early May and involved attempted arson at a pro-life group’s offices in Madison, Wisconsin. There was also graffiti including this slogan painted on a wall outside: “If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either.”
Madison arson investigators are looking into a suspicious fire at the offices of anti-abortion group Wisconsin Family Action, and this threat spray painted outside: “If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either”
— Molly Beck (@MollyBeck) May 8, 2022
That same slogan, along with a symbol for “Jane’s Revenge” was painted on the wall of a pro-life ministry in Hollywood, Florida. Today the DOJ announced that two people are facing federal felony charges in that case.
Two people are facing federal felony charges for vandalizing offices belonging to religious groups offering abortion alternatives to pregnant people in Florida, officials announced Tuesday.
Caleb Freestone, 27, and Amber Smith-Stewart, 23, were charged by a grand jury in Tampa on Jan. 18 with one count each of conspiracy against rights and two counts of violating freedom of access to clinic entrances.
The indictment against the pair was unsealed on Tuesday and alleges they targeted three so-called pregnancy help centers that offer abortion alternatives that include counseling, pregnancy testing, and ultrasounds.
Actually, the indictment doesn’t say they targeted “so-called” pregnancy help centers. That was added by Buzzfeed to signal their disagreement with the characterization. Here’s what the indictment actually says.
The plan and the purpose of the conspiracy was to was to attack reproductive health services facilities that provide abortion alternatives by spray painting threats of force and other intimidating messages on the properties of the facilities, in order to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate the employees of those facilities in their ability to provide reproductive health services.
By adopting the “so-called” in their description, Buzzfeed is adopting the logic of the conspirators, i.e. that these aren’t really reproductive health clinics. Clearly the indictment doesn’t agree. In any case, the facility in Hollywood, Florida was just one of three they targeted.
Two days after the eventual release of the court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24, the pair were allegedly among a group that spray-painted another clinic in Winter Haven, east of Tampa. The vandalism included the words, “We are everywhere,” “WE’RE COMING for U,” and “YOUR TIME IS UP!!”
On July 3, they allegedly vandalized another facility in Hialeah in the greater Miami area with the same threat they left on the Hollywood clinic.
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According to the DOJ press release, they each face up to 12 years and fines of $350,000. In reality, they won’t get a sentence like that unless they already have a long history of previous crimes or there were some extenuating circumstances. On the other hand, the fact that they did this three times might mean they could do some actual prison time as opposed to just probation.
Update: I was curious what this pair looked like and Chuck Ross has answers.
Details of the Antifa members charged with vandalizing pro-life centers in Florida.
One is a member of a group that uses the #ExposeFakeClinics hashtag. Kristen Clarke, who is prosecuting the case at DOJ, has used that same tag to smear pro-life centers.
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) January 25, 2023
He also has some background on Freestone:
Freestone, 27, has claimed affiliation with the activist group Whatever It Takes, according to news reports of his prior arrests for other activist activity. He was charged with disorderly conduct during a July 20, 2022, school board meeting in Miami-Dade County.
More significantly, it turns out the person prosecuting this case for DOJ has apparently used the same hashtags when referring to Crisis Pregnancy Centers that Freestone has used in the past.
Marco Rubio told @FreeBeacon back in June when we raised this issue that Clarke’s rhetoric was “disqualifying.”
She’s now prosecuting two Antifa members who share her general views on pro-life crisis pregnancy centers.
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) January 25, 2023
