Man Arrested In Connection With Threatening Abortion Protester

BROOKLINE, MA — A man is being charged with assault after an abortion protester says he threatened to shoot her.

On Oct. 7, a 26-year-old man dropped off a woman at the women's health clinic on Harvard Street. The woman was escorted into the building by a security guard because of a loud protester nearby. After the man and security guard were able to get the woman into the building, the man got his dog from the car and went to take him for a walk. He had to go past the protester.

The protester later told police she walked up to the man to offer counseling services, prayer and was "expressing her feelings about the violence of abortion."

The man described it as shouting.

At some point the man threatened to shoot her, the woman told police according to the police report. Police asked the woman if she was afraid for her life, and she said she was. Police said that the man was wearing baggy pants and sweatshirt and "thus it was reasonable to believe he could have a firearm on his person."

The man told police he had earphones in to avoid the woman screaming at him as he approached. He told police later she was calling him a murderer.

Two witnesses nearby said they did not see anything. A surveillance video showed the woman approaching the man but there was no sound.

Police asked the man if he had a gun. He told them he does have a license to carry a firearm. Police confiscated the man's gun which was unloaded and in his locked glove compartment along with ammunition and arrested him and charged him with assault by means of a dangerous weapon (firearm).

Women's Health Services on Harvard Street provides a range of gynecological care and family planning services including abortions in the first and second trimesters. Small groups of anti-abortion protesters regularly picket the clinic. Last spring police were called to the clinic after a patient reportedly punched a protester. She later faced assault charges.

Previously:

Woman Punches Abortion Protester Outside Brookline Clinic ...

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