Five people convicted of violating FACE Act

Defendants had invaded the clinic in October 2020

A federal jury convicted five defendants today of federal civil rights offenses concerning a reproductive health care clinic invasion in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 22, 2020. The defendants were each convicted of a felony conspiracy against rights and a Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act offense.

According to evidence presented at trial, Lauren Handy, 28, of Alexandria, Virginia; John Hinshaw, 67, of Levittown, New York; Heather Idoni, 61, of Linden, Michigan; William Goodman, 52, of Bronx, New York; and Herb Geraghty, 25, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and others, engaged in a conspiracy to blockade the reproductive health care clinic to prevent it from providing and patients from receiving, reproductive health services, a Department of Justice news release said. 

The evidence at trial showed that Smith, Hinshaw, Idoni, Goodman, Geraghty and Handy traveled to Washington, D.C., from various states to participate in a clinic blockade directed by Handy and was broadcast on Facebook. The defendants conspired to and did forcefully enter the clinic and block access using their bodies, furniture, chains and ropes. Once the blockade was established, footage of the activities was live-streamed. Evidence also showed that the defendants violated the FACE Act by using force and physical obstruction to injure, intimidate and interfere with the clinic’s employees and patients because they were providing or obtaining reproductive health services.

The defendants face up to a maximum penalty of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $350,000.