A Nebraska man is facing felony charges after he allegedly threatened pro-life advocates by wielding a metal bar at them outside an abortion facility in Lincoln earlier this week.
This is the second report of violent threats being made against Nebraska pro-life advocates in less than a week.
According to the Lincoln Journal-Star, Anthony Ladd, 45, of South Sioux City, was arrested after he allegedly threatened a 59-year-old woman and 64-year-old man Tuesday outside the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Lincoln.
Lincoln police said the woman, a pro-life advocate with Sidewalk Advocates for Life, approached Ladd as he was leaving the abortion facility. It is not clear why Ladd was there.
The pro-life woman, who is not named in the report, said Ladd yelled profanities at her and then went to his vehicle and grabbed a piece of rebar, according to the report.
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Here’s more from the newspaper:
The woman and witnesses told police Ladd wielded the rebar and walked toward her and a 64-year-old man, saying “I am going to f— you up,” according to the affidavit. He then returned to his car and left the area, witnesses told investigators.
Police found Ladd at a nearby bar, where he said he had asked the woman to leave him alone.
He was arrested on suspicion of terroristic threats and taken to the Lancaster County Jail.
Earlier this week, the Nebraska State Patrol said they were investigating another report of violent threats made against pro-life state Sen. Julie Slama, R-Sterling.
Slama said she received at least nine messages online threatening violence, sexual assault and death against her and her family after she introduced a bill last week to ban abortions on unborn babies once their heartbeat is detectable.
Nebraska pro-life organizations condemned the threats against Slama in a joint statement Friday, saying every human being, born or unborn, deserves respect.
“There is no place in a civil society for the violent threats and messages sent to Senator Slama in response to the news that she had introduced a pro-life bill in the Nebraska legislature. No public official, or any person regardless of their stance on any issue, deserves to have their human dignity degraded and disrespected in such a way,” Nebraska Family Alliance, Nebraska Catholic Conference, and Nebraska Right to Life said in a joint statement.
Along with the violence of abortion against unborn babies, threats and violence against pro-life advocates also have increased in recent years. LifeNews.com has documented reports of hundreds of incidents in the past several years, including arson, bomb threats, assaults, theft, death threats and numerous acts of vandalism.
