Anti-abortion activist charged with harassing California doctor who performs abortions
Aaron Jonathan Hurley is charged with participating in a clinic invasion and vandalizing a Madonna and Child statue with fake blood at San Francisco General Hospital, the prosecutor’s office said. district in a press release.
Hurley is charged with criminal harassment, as well as misdemeanors of obstructing liberty of access to a clinic, vandalism, trespassing with intent to interfere and interfering with a business, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday.
CNN has reached out to Hurley and her reps for comment. He was arraigned Thursday and pleaded not guilty, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office. He was released on his own recognizance and the judge ordered him to stay away from the doctor.
On March 13, Hurley and others allegedly “defaced and damaged” a bronze statue of the Madonna and Child at the hospital by covering it with fake blood and stickers bearing the name of a doctor who, between other health care services, performing abortions. , the prosecutor’s office said.
The next day, Hurley and others reportedly broke into the Women’s Options Center at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, which offers abortion services. The group included a woman who allegedly pretended to seek advice for a nurse to come to the door, at which point the group members ‘came out of hiding’ and walked through the door and into the clinic, according to the press release.
Hurley and others “burst into the clinic and began filming patients and staff. Staff reported that these protesters attempted to break into the operating rooms,” the statement said.
The group also allegedly entered the clinic where the targeted doctor worked and “chanted the doctor’s name and, ‘We know who you are, we know what you do,'” according to the prosecutor’s office, which added that the group “harassed staff and patients, making them fear for their safety. »
Later that night, Hurley and others allegedly placed stickers reading “a killer lives in your neighborhood” on the doctor’s front door and in their neighbors’ homes, the prosecutor’s office said. The group is also accused of placing flyers in the doctor’s quarters with a QR code that led to a website that “specifically named the doctor, provided false and inflammatory statements about abortion procedures and attacked the doctor. for providing abortion services”.
“The doctor was afraid for their safety and that of their family, given that the doctor was targeting both their home and their work,” the prosecutor’s office said, adding that the medical professional “was forced to change his entire personal routine and route to work out of fear for their safety.”
Another person allegedly linked to the actions of the anti-abortion group “has been named and released”, and an arrest warrant is pending for another suspect, the prosecutor’s office said, adding that the investigation was ongoing.