A confrontation May 26 outside the doors of a downtown Baltimore Planned Parenthood center left witnesses at a neighboring pro-life pregnancy center disturbed by the level of violence and praying for the recovery of the injured.
According to a police report, a 73-year-old man and an 80-year-old man were attacked outside of the Planned Parenthood center at 330 N. Howard St. The Planned Parenthood building shares a wall with “Options@328,” a pro-life pregnancy resource center operated by the Center for Pregnancy Concerns.
“We are saddened by the recent, brutal attack of two men who were advocating for life on the sidewalk outside the Options@328 pregnancy resource center and Planned Parenthood,” Archbishop William E. Lori said. “We stand firmly against violence of any kind and pray for the quick and complete recovery of both men.”
Gina Ruppert, executive director of the Center for Pregnancy Concerns, said her staff heard the commotion and medical personnel from the center assisted the injured men.
According to Ruppert, the men assaulted are part of a regular group who assemble for peaceful prayer outside the centers that are on the opposite ends of the abortion debate.
“It was very upsetting,” said Ruppert, a parishioner of Sacred Heart, Glyndon. “We often see confrontations but nothing at this level. Our ministry starts once people walk in our doors. We can’t control the sidewalks.”
Baltimore City Police public information officer Chakia Fennoy said in an email May 30 that there were no updates on a search for a suspect.
Preceding the attack, the suspect and one of the victims had a conversation concerning “pro-life” and “pro-choice” viewpoints, according to the police report.
According to the reporting officer, several witnesses said two men were assaulted, one severely. One victim was struck in the face and the other initially was tackled over a flowerpot. Video footage showed the suspect shoving one of the men to the ground with both hands, punching him and then kicking him “with extreme force” directly in the face.
The suspect then walked away toward West Mulberry Street.
Personnel from the Center for Pregnancy Center provided first aid to the two victims and the more seriously injured victim was transported to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma at University of Maryland Medical Center. According to the police report, the victim taken to the medical center was “diagnosed with a large hematoma, hyphema, and head and neck pain.”
The victims were identified as Dick Schafer and Mark Crosby, parishioners of Christ the King Catholic Church in Towson, Maryland, by their pastor, Father Ed Meeks, right before his Sunday homily May 28 for the 11 a.m. Mass. The parish is part of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, a Roman Catholic diocese with Anglican traditions for the U.S. and Canada established by Pope Benedict XVI.
Father Meeks said both parishioners go there regularly.
“Dick is there virtually every day of the week in prayer, passing out what he calls blessing bags, which are little goodie bags that he gives to the women entering the abortion bill to kind of connect with them on a positive level,” the priest said. “Mark was there on Friday morning handing out rosaries.”
The priest stated that both men were attacked “viciously” in an “unprovoked manner.”
“The first thing he (the attacker) did was blindside Dick. He rammed into him from the rear, driving him into a large planter that sits down in front of the main entrance of Planned Parenthood,” Father Meeks said. “Mark came to his aid, and the man took Mark and threw him to the ground and kicked him in the face, shattering the orbital bone around his eye and causing enough damage to his eye that Mark now has no vision in that eye.”
The priest mentioned that Schafer had recovered enough to join the 9 a.m. Mass at Christ the King that Sunday, but Crosby’s injuries are “much more serious.”
“He’s at shock trauma and is facing a number of surgeries to try to repair the damage to his orbital bone and to the eye itself, and trying, of course, to restore vision to that eye,” he said.
The priest asked his flock to “storm heaven on his behalf.”
“These two men were there doing God’s work, and they paid the price for it. That’s the world that we live in,” Father Meeks said, adding that he spoke with Crosby a couple of times since the attack and “he’s in very good spirit.”
“Those of you who know Mark know that he would be. He’s actually rejoicing that he’s undergone this for the cause of Christ,” the priest said. “But please do keep our brother in your prayers in the coming days.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Dr. Jay Walton, president of Baltimore County Right to Life, who identified the victims as volunteers for the organization. As of midday May 31, more than $37,000 had been raised, well over the $10,000 goal.
“We are praying for the men who were assaulted and hope we have peace,” Ruppert said.
Options@328 is located at 328 N. Howard St. It opened in 2020 with support from the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
OSV News contributed to this report. This report was updated May 31 and June 1.
Email Gerry Jackson at gjackson@CatholicReview.org
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