If you think we’re far off from Orwell’s 1984, you’d be wrong. It doesn’t matter who you are, you could get thrown in jail for the dumbest of reasons.
And now the Biden admin threw an 89-year-old woman behind bars for this ridiculous reason.
In a chilling display of government overreach, a group of Christian pro-life activists, including an 89-year-old survivor of a communist prison camp, now face the prospect of over a decade behind bars.
Their crime? Daring to stand up for the unborn in an era where the Biden administration seems bent on punishing those who oppose its radical pro-abortion agenda.
The activists — Chester Gallagher, Heather Idoni, Joel Curry, Justin Phillips, Cal Zastrow, his daughter Eva Zastrow, and 89-year-old Eva Edl — were found guilty by a federal jury in Michigan of conspiring against rights and violating the FACE Act.
Edl, who survived a Yugoslavian communist prison camp under dictator Josip Broz Tito as a young child before fleeing to the United States, now faces the terrifying possibility of returning to prison in her twilight years, thanks to a Justice Department more interested in silencing dissent than upholding justice.
The Biden administration, in a move that reeks of political persecution, has been wielding the “conspiracy against rights” charge — a statute originally designed to combat the Klu Klux Klan — against pro-life activists.
The message is clear: if you stand against the Left’s abortion narrative, you’re in for a fight that could cost you your freedom. These seven courageous individuals now face over 10 years in prison and crippling fines, with sentencing looming as the defendants and the Department of Justice continue to battle it out in court.
As the verdict was delivered, a heavy presence of U.S. Marshals loomed over the courtroom, a stark reminder of the lengths to which this administration will go to crush opposition.
The defendants, surrounded by their families and supporters, received the news with resilience. Cal Zastrow, ever steadfast in his faith, declared, “Isn’t Jesus good? Let’s go to the sidewalk and sing.”
The charges stemmed from a peaceful demonstration — termed a “Rescue” by the defendants — outside the Northland Family Planning Clinic in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
The group had merely sat and stood outside, a non-violent act of protest that the Biden administration has grotesquely twisted into a criminal conspiracy. Edl and Idoni were also convicted for participating in a similar pro-life protest at the Women’s Health Clinic in Saginaw, Michigan.
The jury, composed of five men and seven women, deliberated for just three and a half hours before returning their verdict in the Theodore Levin Federal Courthouse in Detroit. The case was overseen by Judge Matthew Leitman, an Obama appointee, whose bias was evident throughout the trial.
Despite the relentless pressure, Edl remained unwavering in her faith. She drew strength from her belief that suffering serves to purify, likening the experience to a blacksmith’s refining fire.
“We need suffering in our lives in order to be purified and not feel sorry about ourselves,” she said, urging Christians to embrace their trials: “Hammer away, Lord, at that anvil.”
The trial was a tense, drama-filled ordeal that lasted seven days. On August 9, the government paraded a witness named Sarah, who tearfully recounted her encounter with the defendants outside Northland as she and her husband arrived for an abortion after being told their unborn son would not survive.
The Justice Department seemed more than willing to exploit her grief to manipulate the jury, a tactic the defense decried in their closing arguments.
Caroline Davis, a pro-lifer turned key witness for the government, testified for over a day, offering testimony that was critical to the Justice Department’s case. Having pled down her own felony charge to a misdemeanor, she has been a repeat collaborator with the government, testifying in multiple cases against pro-life activists.
Throughout the trial, Judge Leitman repeatedly clashed with David Peters, the attorney representing Phillips.
When Peters attempted to bring up the origins of the “conspiracy against rights” charge — originally meant to target violent groups like the Klu Klux Klan — Leitman shut him down, even threatening him with contempt.
Leitman’s hostility only grew when Peters invoked John Adams’ famous quote about the Constitution being made for a “moral and religious people,” accusing him of setting the stage for jury nullification.
The prosecution, led by U.S. Attorney Frances Carlson, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sunita Doddamani, and trial lawyer Laura-Kate Bernstein, argued that the defendants were trying to impose their Christianity on others and infringe on a woman’s so-called right to an abortion.
In contrast, the defense maintained that their clients were motivated by a desire to “save babies from slaughter” and that their actions were peaceful and faith-driven.
This case marks yet another instance of the Biden administration’s aggressive campaign against pro-life activists, using a warped interpretation of the “conspiracy against rights” statute to silence those who dare to stand up for the unborn.
Previous groups in Tennessee and Washington, D.C., have also been targeted, with some activists already sentenced to prison. The administration’s message is clear: dissent will not be tolerated.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
