Of the 45 documented incidents of violence against pregnancy clinics since June, no suspects have been taken into custody or even identified by name.
Over a month after pro-abortion extremists vandalized and firebombed pro-life pregnancy centers following the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion in Dobbs, no arrests have been made as a result of the FBI’s investigations.
Of the 45 documented incidents of violence against pregnancy clinics since June, no suspects have been taken into custody or even identified by name.
Last week, Jim Harden, CEO of pro-life medical organization CompassCare, whose Buffalo location was attacked on June 7, told National Review that local law enforcement, in collaboration with federal agencies, has made little progress on their case.
The FBI did not conduct a forensic analysis of CompassCare’s extensive video surveillance footage until July 13th, five weeks after the attack, the center reported. Amherst Police waited until an August 1 press conference, the day of Compass Care Buffalo’s re-opening ceremony, to release a statement on the investigation, although it updated that “there have already been multiple leads examined and we are continuing to follow up with those at this time.”
Meanwhile, the criminal-justice process moved much more efficiently after a July 31 attack on a Kalamazoo, Michigan Planned Parenthood clinic, in which an activist lit fires on the roof using a Duraflame log.
Harden suggested that the lack of results in the case of the Compass Care investigation suggests a double standard on the part of law enforcement.
“[Law-enforcement agencies] don’t communicate well at all…When a Planned Parenthood center in New York in July claimed it was vandalized, law enforcement immediately apprehended the guy and arrested him. Compare that with what happened to us. We had an arson attack, which in a criminal code is just below murder, and nobody has been arrested,” Harden said.
Authorities launched a multi-agency investigation, resulting in the prompt arrest of 25-year-old suspect Joshua Brereton only four days later. Assistant United States Attorney, Stephanie Carowan is prosecuting the case as arson, according to a press release published by the United States Attorney’s Office.
Harden said his staff have grown frustrated with the stagnation on the Buffalo case, especially after the damage and steep security expenses, over $100,000 to be exact, the center incurred as a result of the raid.
“It was catastrophic. We couldn’t use the facility at all. Ours was the worst attack by far. That’s why the 52 days of rebuilding was miraculous,” he said. Neither the Amherst Police nor FBI have acknowledged that it constituted arson despite the video evidence that multiple incendiary devices were deployed, Compass Care claimed.
There may be some hope for catching the criminal in a June 30 attack on a pregnancy center in Nashville, Tenn., though. Last week, the FBI released photos of a suspect and their car in the attempted firebombing Hope Clinic for Women, in which an extremist threw a Molotov cocktail through a window at 1:30 a.m. The weapon did not explode upon contact with the building, Catholics News Agency reported. The words “Jane’s Revenge,” referencing the decentralized group of pro-abortion militants that recently claimed responsibility for 16 of the reported attacks, were spray-painted onto the walls of the facility.
On June 17, the FBI announced it would investigate attacks on pregnancy-resource centers across the country as acts of domestic violent extremism after 124 Republican Members of Congress urged U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to do so.
“The FBI is investigating a series of attacks and threats targeting pregnancy resource centers and faith-based organizations across the country,” the FBI said in a statement first reported by Fox News. “The FBI takes all threats seriously and we continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners and will remain vigilant to protect our communities.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray told senators last week that the bureau has opened “a number” of probes into violent crime incidents involving both pro-abortion and anti-abortion activists.