WILMINGTON, Delaware, November 18, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-life leader charged with “disorderly conduct” in June after reporting a suspicious package outside a Wilmington abortion clinic has been exonerated.
Kurt Linnemann, the executive director for the Maryland chapter of the Center for Bioethical Reform, on June 10 had called 911 to report the package outside a Wilmington Planned Parenthood where he regularly keeps vigil on Fridays. But instead of being thanked, he was arrested by the police officers he had called.
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Linnemann told LifeSiteNews.com that the police report originally claimed he was present earlier in the day when a Planned Parenthood employee inspected the package and walked by, and therefore should have known it was harmless. But security camera evidence reviewed prior to the trial, he said, “clearly showed” that he didn’t arrive until 9 minutes after that event.
“We believe [it was] a falsification of the report,” said Linneman. Planned Parenthood later denied telling police that Linnemann had been present at the time, he said, and police suggested they misunderstood the clinic workers.
During the three-hour misdemeanor trial, the prosecution persisted in attempting to portray Linnemann’s call as purposely disruptive, but the judge rejected the idea.
“The judge realized that we are peaceful protesters, our intentions were not wrong, and that we acted appropriately – certainly in the post 911 environment – that things do happen … and that abortion clinic is a place where there’s particularly active concern,” said Linnemann.
The leader said the affair was unsurprising given the level of collaboration he has noticed between police and a clinic anxious to get Linnemann and his group away from their customers. He said he even noticed the lead police officer giving one of the Planned Parenthood workers a hug during the June arrest.
“I’ve been three and a half years at that site, and they don’t like my presence, and they’re trying to do everything to take me off the streets,” he said. “It’s been an ongoing struggle.”