Vandals connected to Antifa and Jane's Revenge pleaded guilty to attacking a Florida pregnancy center and then reached a settlement with the pro-life organization that runs the facility. Heartbeat of Miami is “a faith-based ministry that provides life-affirming services and support to women and couples" and was vandalized by Caleb Freestone and Amber Smith-Stewart in July 2022.
Freestone and Smith-Stewart pleaded guilty to charges of "conspiring to injure, oppress, threaten or intimidate employees of pregnancy resource centers in the free exercise of the right to provide and seek to provide reproductive health service," per a press release from the US Department of Justice. Both had vandalized pro-life pregnancy centers in Florida and are reportedly connected to Antifa and Jane's Revenge, per Live Action.
They wrote messages on the walls of the center such as “YOUR TIME IS UP!!," “WE’RE COMING for U," and "If abortions aren't safe the [sic] neither are you." It was the first time a state attorney general was prosecuting these types of attacks carried out by Jane's Revenge and Antifa, both far-left groups that often resort to violence or property damage to enact their activism.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed the lawsuit against the vandals in addition to a lawsuit filed by Heartbeat of Miami as an organization. First Liberty Institute, a legal group, announced the victory of the settlement for Heartbeat of Miami in a press release. It didn't give specific details on the settlement, but said, “The vandals associated with Jane’s Revenge who sought to injure, intimidate and interfere with access to Heartbeat of Miami, and several Florida pregnancy resource centers, will be held to account.”
"This case is a reminder that no one should suffer violence for simply providing faith-based counseling and baby supplies to women and their babies," First Liberty Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys said. The release added, “We are grateful to Attorney General Moody’s leadership in protecting Florida’s religious and pro-life community. Together with our lawsuit, this sends a clear message: those who resort to violence will face the legal penalties for their crimes."
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