By Elle Purnell, The Federalist, Oct. 19, 2022
Elle Purnell is an assistant editor at The Federalist, and received her B.A. in government from Patrick Henry College with a minor in journalism.
A Federalist review of DOJ press releases in 2022 revealed not a single announcement of the arrest or indictment of a pregnancy center arsonist.
The Department of Justice under Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the indictment of pro-life activist Herb Geraghty on Oct. 14, bringing the number of apparently nonviolent pro-life protesters targeted under the FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act by President Joe Biden’s DOJ this year to 22. Meanwhile, the agency has yet to announce a single arrest or indictment against any of the vandals or arsonists who terrorized and firebombed crisis pregnancy centers after the leak of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Geraghty, a 25-year-old from Pittsburgh, is accused of participating in a “reproductive health care clinic blockade in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 22, 2020.” Along with nine other defendants, the DOJ alleges, Geraghty “forcefully entered the [abortion facility] and set about blockading two clinic doors using their bodies, furniture, chains and ropes.” In March, the FBI announced indictments against the other nine: “Lauren Handy, 28, of Alexandria, Virginia; Jonathan Darnel, 40, of Arlington, Virginia, Jay Smith, 32, of Freeport, New York; Paulette Harlow, 73, of Kingston, Massachusetts; Jean Marshall, 72, of Kingston, Massachusetts; John Hinshaw, 67, of Levittown, New York; Heather Idoni, 61, of Linden, Michigan; William Goodman, 52, of the Bronx, New York; and Joan Bell, 74, of Montague, New Jersey.” …
