Friday, March 5th, a group of twelve Christian extremists, four of them children, led by Operation Save America (OSA) members, blocked the entrance to an abortion clinic in Mt. Juliet, TN for at least three hours hours. The local police, stood by for most of that time and made it clear they were not interested in arresting anyone, and only made arrests when the protesters refused to leave the building.

In the local newspaper the Wilson Post, Mt. Juliet Police Chief James Hambrick, who also is a Presbyterian minister, said, “Our aim was not to arrest. We had good dialogue. We’re just glad everything went as peaceful and orderly as it did.” Nevermind that blocking access to an abortion facility is a federal felony and that some of these people are repeat offenders. Nevermind that local roads were shut down and people in offices inside the building were sheltering in place for hours.

Police eventually arrested nine adults on trespassing charges, and four of the adults were charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The four minors were given juvenile citations for future court appearances.

However, arrests were the point, as the terrorists had prepared PREPRINTED flyers and propaganda for the occasion stating they had been arrested; THEY CAME TO BE ARRESTED. These people came to commit a felony, and had the audacity to preprint flyers.

Then they were shocked when the local judge set bail over $1000 for some of them; some stayed in jail over the weekend. This may be the most jail time any will ever see for their activities.

The names of those arrested: Chester E. Gallagher, Caroline R. Davis, Edl Eva Tiesler, Paul R. Place, Dennis E. Green, Heather R. Idoni, Calvin J. Zastrow, Eva D. Zastrow, James E. Zastrow. Most of these are repeat offenders and affiliates of Operation Save America, traveling across the country to carry out these blockades, a federal felony.

This is the same group of extremists that blocked the entrance of a clinic in Little Rock, AR in January of this year and in Sterling Heights, MI in August 2020. In both cases, they were charged with misdemeanor trespassing. Until these terrorists face appropriate FEDERAL consequences for these actions, they won’t stop, they will only continue, and to escalate. This time they included children in their activities. There have already been two in 2021. What next?

Until we demand better and expect these extremists to face consequences, expect these sorts of attacks to continue, and patients to be blocked from accessing the care they need.

It is time we demand an end to clinic harassment. Hold these people accountable.