Pro-life activist John Roswell tells AFN he was peacefully standing outside the abortuary May 26 with Dick Schafer and Mark Crosby when an unknown passerby viciously attacked Crosby, who is 80. He was jumped from behind and punched until he was knocked unconscious.
“The bone structure around the orbit of the eye is completely fractured,” Roswell says of Crosby’s battered face. “At some point they're going to have to put some metal plating in there, I believe. I'm sure he's going to have some definite reconstructive surgery.”
A related story by LifeNews about the attack includes photos of Crosby after the attack, which AFN is not publishing for this story due to their gruesome nature.
Roswell says the second pro-life counselor, Schafer, escaped with “bangs and scraps,” and a bump on his head, after being knocked unconscious, too.
Citing a Baltimore police report, Fox News said witnesses described a white male suspect who began arguing with the pro-life activists about abortion. He then attacked one of the men, referring to Schafer, when Crosby jumped in and was attacked, too. Schafer is 80.
Police reviewed video footage of the suspect fleeing after the attack. He has not been found.
Abortion boss describes 'unfortunate incident'
Alex Perry, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Maryland, confirmed to AFN the attacker was not a clinic employee or volunteer escort for the abortion clinic.
In a statement provided to AFN, Planned Parenthood of Maryland CEO Karen Nelson described an “unfortunate incident” on the sidewalk outside of its Baltimore “health center” between a pedestrian and what she calls “anti-choice protesters.”
The statement further stated Planned Parenthood condemns “all violence” and said abortion supporters cannot tolerate “violent acts from anywhere” because that “gets in the way of patients’ receiving proper health care.”
Nelson’s statement to AFN varied slightly from her statement to WBAL-TV, an NBC News affiliate. The state leader of the abortion chain said she doesn’t condone violence but then complained about the pro-life victims, too.
“It's a darn shame that folks who are trying to receive health care have to put up with remarks and comments when they are just trying to go into a facility and receive health care,” Nelson told WBAL.
The three pro-life activists are members of Baltimore County Right to Life, which has set up a GoFundMe page to help Crosby with his medical bills, according to the Fox News story.
