Trial begins for six people charged in 2021 'blockade' of Mt. Juliet abortion clinic

The federal trial of six people accused of illegally blocking the entrance of a Mt. Juliet abortion clinic in 2021 began Wednesday afternoon after lawyers spent a day and a half selecting a jury.

The defendants are charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a federal law prohibiting the obstruction of a person's ability to access reproductive health care. If convicted, they each face up to 11 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

On March 5, 2021, police arrested 11 people who traveled from various states to the Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mt. Juliet to block employees and patients from accessing the clinic, located on the second floor of an office building.

The group came prepared with pre-printed flyers that stated they were “[a]cting Biblically” and “rescuing the innocent" while also anticipating their arrests, stating, "what really happened today in Mount Juliet? Police arrested peaceful, obedient Christians!"

Seven of the 11 arrested were charged with felony violations of the FACE Act, while four were charged only with misdemeanor violations and are being tried separately. One of the seven charged with a felony, Caroline Davis, pleaded guilty in October 2023. Davis, 25, of Michigan, is cooperating with the government and will testify against her co-defendants at trial, the case's lead prosecutor said.

More than 45 people were gathered in the gallery of U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger's courtroom in the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse in downtown Nashville when opening statements began shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Unsurprisingly, the two sides used different words when referring to the incident that led to the defendants' arrest: For the prosecution, it was a "blockade;" to the defense, it was a "ministry," a "rally," a "rescue," a "peaceful protest" or an "empathetic offer of hope before making a decision that cannot be taken back."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Klopf said during her opening statement that the government's witnesses will include a patient who had an appointment at the clinic but left because of the protesters, an employee who was "trapped inside the building during the incident, and a police officer who responded to the scene.

Mt. Juliet Cpl. Lance Schneider testified after closing statements concluded, saying that between 25-35 officers responded to the medical pavilion where the clinic was located that day. About 20-25 protesters were there, many of whom left after being warned that they would be arrested, Schneider said. He said that the protesters were peaceful and not aggressive, but that police got involved because they were disrupting other businesses in the building and refused to leave when asked by property managers.

Prosecutors played two short videos from the incident, during which a protester called a patient being escorted to the clinic by police "a mom who's coming to her kill her baby." In the same video a protester told Schneider, who was escorting the patient, that he was "leading a baby to be murdered."

The patient responded in the video, "I'm not killing a baby; I promise you."

Federal charges: 11 anti-abortion protesters face charges in blocking Mount Juliet clinic

More: Carafem clinic in Mount Juliet halts abortions but will remain open

Video evidence will feature heavily in the trial, as several codefendants recorded their "rescue" and at least one livestreamed it on Facebook, lawyers said.

With "literally everything ... on video," as one defense attorney put it, several lawyers for the defendants urged the jury during opening statements to focus on whether what they see meets the elements of the charge, which includes injuring, oppressing, threatening or intimidating those seeking to access reproductive health care.

"Evidence will show the opposite," said attorney Robert Parris, representing Calvin Zastrow.

The six being tried this week include two men from Tennessee: Chester Gallagher of Lebanon and Paul Vaughn of Centerville. An email from a public relations firm representing Vaughn's lawyers, who are part of conservative law firm the Thomas More Society, identified Vaughn as the president of Personhood Tennessee, an anti-abortion organization. Attorneys on Monday identified Gallagher as the one who organized the protest and invited others.

The others being tried are Heather Idoni and Zastrow, from Michigan; Coleman Boyd, from Bolton, Mississippi; and Dennis Green, from Cumberland, Virginia.

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mt. Juliet abortion clinic 'blockade' case goes to trial