UPDATE: This story has been updated to include comments from an FBI spokesperson.
The Justice Department (DOJ) announced Monday that a man pleaded guilty to vandalizing a Planned Parenthood clinic, despite reportedly going months without arresting anyone responsible for a number of attacks on crisis pregnancy centers since May.
Devin Friedrick Kruse entered guilty pleas for two misdemeanor counts of Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act violations, having destroyed property and broken windows at a Grants Pass, Oregon, Planned Parenthood clinic on Nov. 23 and Nov. 26 2021, the DOJ’s press release said. He later claimed to have acted out of anger over Planned Parenthood killing unborn children.
“Citizens have a legal right to peacefully protest, but Mr. Kruse’s actions of repeated violence toward a Planned Parenthood clinic crossed a line,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Kieran L. Ramsey said, according to the press release. “The FBI will continue to work with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to ensure the safety of our communities while respecting individuals’ First Amendment rights.”
However, as of Sept. 14, the DOJ has so far failed to make any arrests in numerous attacks on crisis pregnancy centers since the Supreme Court’s draft opinion calling for Roe v. Wade’s reversal became public.
The Jane’s Revenge pro-abortion group took credit for vandalizing or setting fire to the facilities of faith-based groups including crisis pregnancy centers on more than 15 occasions between the draft’s May 2 leak and Sept. 14, Fox News reported. None of the attacks had led to an arrest by then. (RELATED: Elizabeth Warren Suggests Putting Abortion Clinics In National Parks)
I condemn violence of any sort, but it’s mildly infuriating the DOJ is sending out press releases about arresting someone for breaking windows at a Planned Parenthood clinic—but there’s been no real progress on the rash of attacks on crisis pregnancy centers. pic.twitter.com/Jcnp1yoOFU
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) September 19, 2022
One late June attack left a Washington D.C. pregnancy center smeared with red paint and eggs, while organizations in Wisconsin and Oregon have reportedly been attacked with Molotov cocktails, according to the Catholic News Agency. A Washington state pregnancy center was spray-painted with “Jane’s revenge” and the words, “If abortions aren’t safe, you aren’t either,” according to KTTH radio host Jason Rantz.
NEW: Next Step Pregnancy Center in Lynnwood, Wash. was vandalized by a criminal dressed in all black. She tagged the property with the threat “If abortion isn’t safe, you aren’t either” and “Jane’s revenge.” pic.twitter.com/pjM2TLMZVK
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) May 26, 2022
The FBI told Fox News in June it had begun investigating the crisis pregnancy center attacks.
“The FBI is investigating a series of attacks and threats targeting pregnancy resource centers, faith-based organizations, and reproductive health clinics across the country, as well as to judicial buildings, including the US Supreme Court,” an FBI spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“The incidents are being investigated as potential acts of domestic violent extremism, FACE Act violations, or violent crime matters, depending on the facts of each case” the spokesperson said. “The FBI takes all violence and threats of violence very seriously and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners at the national, state, and local levels to investigate these incidents.”
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