DOJ sues five pro-life protesters for FACE Act violations

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday filed a lawsuit against five pro-life protesters accused of blocking the entrance of an abortion center in Fort Myers, Fla., on Jan. 27, 2022. The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act prohibits the blocking of patients’ access to medical facilities and abortion centers. The DOJ alleges that Kenneth Scott, Calvin Zastrow, Eva Zastrow, Chester Gallagher, and Katelyn Sims deliberately blocked the entrance to a Planned Parenthood-run abortion center and that by doing so, they halted the facility’s operations.

What happened in this specific instance? The protesters arrived at the facility in the morning before the facility’s employees arrived, according to the DOJ’s filing. As employees arrived and began entering the facility, the protesters yelled at them, calling them murderers, and either told them to burn in hell or warned them that they would burn in hell, according to court documents.

Police officers soon arrived and told the protesters to leave the facility property because they were trespassing. The protesters notified the officers that babies were dying inside and accused officers of failing to do anything about it. Three of the protesters—Eva Zastrow, Calvin Zastrow, and Katelyn Sims—either sat down or stood in front of the front door to the facility, according to court documents. Eventually, a patient arrived on the scene and tried to open the door. One of the protesters, Eva Zastrow, allegedly tried to shove the door closed. A security guard had to pry open the door to allow the patient inside. Police officers then arrested both Zastrows and Katelyn Sims for trespassing, according to court documents.

Defendants Kenneth Scott and Chester Gallagher tried to enter a back side door of the abortion facility but found it to be locked, so instead began shoving signs under the door, according to the filing. Inside, employees used a metal sign to block the back door and prepared to defend themselves against Scott and Gallagher, court documents allege. At least one grabbed a scalpel, and the employees began taking apart an IV tube’s pole to use as a weapon. Police officers came around to the side of the building. Gallagher and Scott refused to leave and instructed deputies to take them to jail because the employees were killing babies inside, according to court documents. The officers arrested them for trespassing.

A jury at the county level found four of the defendants—all except Scott—guilty of trespassing last summer. Just months later, Scott appeared before a judge and entered a no-contest plea against charges of trespassing and was found guilty. The Justice Department’s lawsuit is merely an allegation and is not proof of wrongdoing. All defendants should be presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas’ report in WORLD Magazine about how pro-lifers convicted under the FACE Act face long prison sentences.