8 indicted in 2020 blockade of Sterling Heights abortion clinic
More than two years after converging on what they dubbed a "murder mill," eight people have been indicted on federal charges for allegedly blocking access to a Sterling Heights abortion clinic in 2020 — an incident they promoted on social media and then livestreamed for the world to see.
"We're in Sterling Heights, outside of the murder mill, to save children," one of the defendants livestreamed to a social media account on Aug. 27, 2020.
Another 30 months would pass before a federal grand jury handed up an indictment charging the demonstrators, five of whom are from Michigan, in the 2020 incident. The indictment came eight months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a historic ruling that nixed national abortion rights and left the divisive and emotional issue up to the states to decide.
'Pray for the fruit of repentance to manifest'
Two of the defendants — one a Michigan woman — also were charged with attempting to block access to a Saginaw abortion clinic in 2021.
According to the Feb. 15 indictment, which was unsealed this week, the group engaged in a conspiracy to violate civil rights — a crime that carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence — and violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which carries a maximum six-month prison sentence. No attorneys of record have yet been listed in federal court documents for the accused.
According to court records, here is what landed the group on the federal government's radar:
In August 2020, the anti-abortion activists set their sights on the Northland Family Planning clinic in Sterling Heights. They planned to block women from entering the facility and publicized their plan on social media.
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"Heading to an important activity scheduled for tomorrow in Michigan. Look for the feeds in the morning and prepare to join us. Pray for the fruit of repentance to manifest," one man posted.
Group blocked doors: 'We're not letting anybody in'
The group met at a location near the clinic and waited for the doors to open.
On the morning of Aug. 27, 2020, came another social media post: "Rescue NOW Progress in Michigan."
An unnamed co-conspirator who recorded the incident announced: "This is a very serious situation ... (the group is) going over to stand in front of the door” and “stand in between the hands of an abortionist that wants to murder these children and the life of these babies."
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When the doors opened to the clinic, the group stood and sat in front of the doors. As the group blocked the entrance, a woman tried to enter. She was there for birth control, but the demonstrators wouldn't move.
"We're not letting anybody in," one man said.
Protesters didn't move after the police came
Employees tried to intervene and guided the woman to the employee entrance. But demonstrators were planted there, too, and wouldn't budge.
The cops were summoned.
Sterling Heights police told the activists to move, but they refused. Instead, they struck up a conversation with the officers to delay others from getting in.
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"The longer they take with us, the better the opportunity we have to see women and children rescued," one of the activists posted to social media.
The police warned the group to leave, or they would be arrested.
Still, they wouldn't budge.
"You can arrest us. You can do whatever you want," a South Carolina woman named Eva Edl told the officers. "But I will be back, when there is another clinic open."
Edl kept her promise.
Eight months later, on April 16, 2021, police say Edl and a Michigan woman showed up at the Saginaw location of the Women’s Center of Flint and Saginaw and tried to block access to the building.
Federal charges followed.
Michigan woman charged for third time complains of 'vindictiveness'
For Heather Idoni, a 58-year-old bookstore owner from Linden, the federal charges against her and others came as no surprise: It was her third time getting indicted in recent years.
"Although this indictment ... rings of vindictiveness and overreach from the DOJ, I am not surprised," Idoni wrote to the Free Press Thursday. "I had a heads-up this was coming and it was obvious they have been investigating further back in time to prosecute myself and other peaceful, non-violent Christians to the fullest."
Despite her legal troubles, Idoni — who three decades ago spent brief stints in jail for anti-abortion activities — said she has no regrets about her actions in Sterling Heights three years ago.
Idoni has not yet been arraigned on the federal charges in Michigan, though her legal troubles will keep her busy in the next year. In August, she is going on trial in Washington, D.C., on charges that she engaged in anti-abortion activities there. And next January, she is headed for another trial in Tennessee on charges involving similar activities.
Meanwhile, Idoni's lifelong passion to end abortion will also cost her her livelihood. Idoni, who has run a bookstore called Beloved Books for 20 years, said that she will be shuttering her business in June because of her summer trial in Washington.
Why, despite her legal troubles, does she continue to protest abortion activities?
"Well, first, we really aren't protesters," she said. "As a friend of mine told me once, 'Does a firefighter run to the fire to protest the fire? No, we follow historical Christian doctrine of interposition,'" Idoni said. "We are there to interpose our own bodies to save as many lives as we can."
Idoni explained that she and other like-minded individuals "take literally the scripture in Proverbs 24:10-12. We are obeying the command to rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; do not stand back and let them die."
Then she offered an analogy: Someone may choose not to swim in pool if there were a "no trespassing" sign. But if "we heard the sounds of a child drowning we would jump that fence in a heartbeat."
Charged in the indictment are:
Calvin Zastrow of Michigan
Chester Gallagher of Tennessee
Idoni of Michigan
Caroline Davis of Georgia
Joel Curry of Michigan
Justin Phillips of Michigan
Edl of South Carolina
Eva Zastrow of Michigan
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Feds indict 8 for blockading Northland Family Planning
