Last week, a Baltimore judge rebuffed prosecutors’ calls for jail time for a 28-year-old man who brutally assaulted two senior citizens engaging in pro-life activism outside a Planned Parenthood in Baltimore. Instead, Baltimore Circuit Judge Yvette M. Bryant sentenced the assailant, Patrick Brice, to a year of home detention and three years of probation. As part of the sentence, Brice must also complete anger management classes, go through drug and alcohol testing, and remain in therapy. Brice was found guilty in February of two counts of second-degree assault and reckless endangerment.
On May 26, 2023, pro-life activists Richard Schaefer and Mark Crosby, who were in their seventies and eighties at the time, were praying and sidewalk counseling outside the Baltimore Planned Parenthood. Brice had an exchange with Schaefer, which turned violent. Brice shoved Schaefer into a flowerpot. When Crosby rushed to Schaefer’s aid, Brice then assaulted Crosby, kicking him in the head. Schaefer was knocked unconscious. Crosby suffered a severe concussion, broken fingers, and permanent damage to his right eye. The assault was captured by a surveillance video. Despite this, Brice has escaped jail time.
Sadly, this is not the first time that people who have physically harmed pro-lifers have avoided serious punishment. In 2019, the Washington, D.C., police refused to prosecute Quinn Chasan, a Google employee who assaulted pro-life activist Michael Gribbin outside the D.C. Planned Parenthood. This is despite the fact that Gribbin had video footage of the assault. In 2023, D.C. police refused to prosecute a woman who threw a cup of coffee at pro-life activist Terrisa Bukovinac outside the same Planned Parenthood. Furthermore, federal law enforcement has done little to investigate the numerous attacks on pregnancy help centers, churches, and pro-life groups after the 2022 leak of the Dobbs decision.
Tom Brejcha, the president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society, which provided Crosby with legal counsel, criticized Judge Bryant’s decision: “This crime deserves far more serious consequences than a ‘get out of jail free’ card and a one-year home detention that amounts to nothing more than a slap on the wrist.” Despite the assault, Schaefer and Crosby have continued to sidewalk counsel outside the Baltimore Planned Parenthood. In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Crosby has encouraged others, especially young men, to join them. He stated that the attack “would not have occurred” if more pro-lifers were present.