Baltimore Man Pleads Guilty to Damaging Property of a Reproductive Health Services Facility

Travis Reynolds, 21, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to one count of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it a federal crime to damage the property of a reproductive health services facility because of the services offered there.

The charge stems from incidents that occurred late in the evening on Feb. 24, 2016, and early in the morning on Feb. 25, 2016, when Reynolds and another man decided to vandalize a Baltimore area women’s health care clinic.  Reynolds spray-painted the words “Baby Killer,” “Kill Baby Here” and other graphic messages across the building where the clinic is located.

During his guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth Gesner of the District of Maryland, Reynolds admitted that he vandalized the clinic because it offered abortion services.  At the time of his arrest, Reynolds admitted to police that he defaced the clinic’s doors, walls and windows because he thought that it would deter women from using the clinic.

“The Justice Department will continue to aggressively enforce the FACE Act, which makes it a crime to intentionally damage a clinic because it offers reproductive health services,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  “While people have a First Amendment right to peacefully express their views, they do not have a right to vandalize clinics in the hopes of deterring women from receiving lawful services that those facilities provide.”

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Baltimore County Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Sanjay Patel of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Maryland.