Attorneys with First Liberty Institute and Lawson Huck Gonzalez, PLLC announced that four vandals associated with Jane’s Revenge who sought to injure, intimidate, and interfere with access to several Florida pregnancy resource centers, including Heartbeat of Miami, pleaded guilty to felony charges related to violence last year. Charges against the four were brought under the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (“FACE”) Act just before First Liberty and Attorney General Ashley Moody also filed civil lawsuits authorized under FACE on behalf of several life-affirming reproductive health facilities in Florida.
Attorney General Moody said, “We will not allow radicals to threaten and intimidate women seeking help from crisis pregnancy centers or the counselors and health care professionals serving these women and their babies. In Florida, illegal actions have consequences, and I am proud of the work our attorneys did in this case to make sure these extremists were held accountable.”
“Women who seek care at life-affirming reproductive health care facilities should never fear for their safety,” said Jason Gonzalez, shareholder at Lawson Huck Gonzalez, PLLC. “We are grateful that AG Moody has led the effort to not only protect our client, but every life-affirming reproductive health facility across the State of Florida.”
“The entry of these felony plea agreements serves as a reminder that no one should suffer violence for simply providing faith-based counseling and baby supplies to women and their babies,” said First Liberty Senior Counsel, Jeremy Dys. “Attorney General Moody’s leadership, together with our lawsuit, sends a clear message: those who target life-affirming reproductive health facilities with violence will face the legal penalties Congress established for their crimes.”
Last year, First Liberty Institute and Lawson Huck Gonzalez, PLLC filed a lawsuit similar to one filed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody seeking to assess $170,000 in penalties against each defendant. General Moody’s lawsuit is the first instance of a state attorney general to use the FACE Act to hold violent protestors of life-affirming pregnancy care centers accountable for their actions.
Following the leak of the Dobbs decision, vandals associated with Jane’s Revenge began attacking faith-based pregnancy resource centers across the nation. Vandals spray-painted threatening messages like “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you,” fire-bombed life-affirming reproductive health facilities, broke windows, doxxed the staff, board, and volunteers of pregnancy resource centers, and disrupted private events with supporters in an effort to intimidate those centers, injure their facilities, and interfere with clients seeking to access their free services.
Heartbeat of Miami (“Heartbeat”) is a religious ministry providing life-affirming reproductive health services to women and couples facing unplanned pregnancies in Hialeah, Florida. First Liberty’s lawsuit, filed on behalf of Heartbeat, alleged that Caleb Freestone and Amber Marie Smith-Stewart, as representatives of Jane’s Revenge, vandalized Heartbeat’s clinic with spray painted threats on July 3, 2022. Annarella Rivera then allegedly joined Caleb Freestone on September 17, 2022 to hack their way onto Heartbeat’s guest list, giving them access into Heartbeat’s annual gala where they shouted obscenities, disparaged Heartbeat’s staff, volunteers, and supporters, and leafletted the venue with propaganda hoping to dissuade women from using Heartbeat’s services. On January 18, 2023, a federal grand jury issued a criminal indictment against Freestone and Smith-Stewart.
