The Department of Justice is leaving little doubt, critics say, that it has become weaponized to track down and punish Team Biden's political opposition.
In June of last year, an abortion advocacy group called Jane’s Revenge scrawled threatening messages in red ink outside a North Carolina pregnancy center. Around the same time, Antifa terrorists firebombed a Buffalo, New York pregnancy center.
Neither Jane's Revenge or Antifa faced any consequences from the Biden DOJ.
On Friday, Biden’s DOJ found three pro-life activists guilty for their role in what prosecutors said was an October 2020 abortion clinic blockade in Washington, D.C.
The defendants – Jonathan Darnel, 41, of Arlington, Virginia; Jean Marshall, 73, of Kingston, Massachusetts; and Joan Bell, 74, of Montague, New Jersey – "were each convicted of a felony conspiracy against rights and a FACE Act offense," the DOJ said in a Friday press release.
The three were accused of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and conspiracy against rights for blocking access to the Washington Surgi-Clinic, a clinic notorious for conducting late-term abortions.
U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who presided over the trial, ordered the defendants immediately detained. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
The pro-life activists are facing a potential “maximum sentence of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $350,000,” according to the DOJ.
PAAU (Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising), a liberal pro-life group, condemned the verdict, saying the activists peacefully protested and didn’t deserve the severe punishment they were handed.
“This overreaching of power and authority by Biden’s DOJ is egregious and must be stopped. Nonviolent pro-life actions should not be a federal crime, and peaceful people with a desire to save lives should not be jailed for over a decade. Some of these Rescuers could be facing death by incarceration. We must repeal the FACE Act now!” said Caroline Taylor Smith, executive director of PAAU.
In August, five other anti-abortion activists involved in the same incident were found guilty of blocking the entrance to an abortion clinic.
Attorneys for the activists said the protesters did not stop people from entering the building and only kneeled and prayed and passed out pro-life literature to those walking in.
2 women in their 70’s were convicted for “blocking” an abortion clinic and now face up to 11 years in prison. Meanwhile most BLM protestors who burned down buildings and destroyed our country for months had their charges dropped. pic.twitter.com/4j6M7SlQFD
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 18, 2023
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