On July 24, Bevelyn Beatty Williams, 33, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 41 months in prison and two years of probation for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (the “FACE” Act) in June 2020. Judge Jennifer L. Rochon cited seven other criminal convictions as a factor in the sentence, according to the Associated Press (AP). According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, Williams threatened and used force against patients and staff members at an abortion clinic in lower Manhattan, while also blocking their access to the facility. Some of the interactions during the two-day protest were captured on video. In one video, Williams pressed her body against the clinic’s entrance, preventing a volunteer staffer from entering, according to the DOJ. As a clinic staffer attempted to open the door for the volunteer, Williams intentionally leaned against the door, crushing the staffer’s hand. Federal prosecutors say the victim yelled, “She’s crushing my hand,” but Williams remained against the door, trapping and injuring the staffer’s hand. Williams requested leniency, explaining to the court that she was traumatized by a bad childhood and an abortion she received at the age of 15 and had since found religion as a source of inspiration, the AP noted. “If I wasn’t saved, I would have punched that woman in the face,” she said of the woman whose hand was injured. But as the sentence was announced, Rochon told Williams, “You cannot commit crimes, even in the name of a religious cause,” according to the AP. Following the DOJ's sentencing announcement, Williams' conservative allies rallied around her, characterizing the prosecution as a politicized attack for simply “preaching the Gospel in front of an abortion clinic.” Williams, who was arrested around the same time on separate charges for defacing Black Lives Matter murals, livestreamed the incidents outside of the Manhattan abortion clinic on June 19 and 20, 2020. Prosecutors say she threatened to “terrorize this place,” warning, “We’re gonna terrorize you so good, your business is gonna be over, mama.” After standing within inches of one of the clinic’s security guards and threatening “war,” Williams also stated she would act by “any means necessary,” according to the DOJ. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams criticized Williams’ actions and vowed to continue using the power of his office to protect abortion clinics, staff, and patients. “This Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to ensuring that patients exercising their legal right to obtain reproductive health services, and healthcare facilities and their staff providing those services, can do so without unlawful interference or fear of threats or violence,” he said. According to the DOJ, Williams engaged in similar conduct on multiple occasions across the U.S. over a three-year period in states including Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia. During one incident, she shouted that she would go to jail before letting women enter the abortion clinic, adding that she was “not afraid to get arrested.”A black conservative activist has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison in connection with her interference with individuals seeking and providing abortions at a New York clinic.
