Current:Home > NewsTennessee woman gets over 3 years in prison for blocking clinic access during protest -WealthPro Academy
Tennessee woman gets over 3 years in prison for blocking clinic access during protest
View
Date:2025-04-27 13:15:29
NEW YORK (AP) — A Tennessee woman was sentenced Wednesday to over three years in prison for using threats and violence to interfere with the operation of a New York City reproductive health center in the early days of the pandemic in 2020.
Bevelyn Beatty Williams, 33, of Ooltewah, Tennessee, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to three years and five months behind bars by Judge Jennifer L. Rochon.
She noted that Williams organized the June 2020 protest at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Manhattan and livestreamed it, bragging about it afterward, even though the hand of a worker at the clinic was injured when Williams tried to push a door closed as the worker attempted to let a volunteer enter.
The judge cited seven other criminal convictions for Williams as a factor in the sentence. Williams was convicted in February at a two-week trial of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
Williams had tearfully requested leniency, saying she was traumatized by a bad childhood and an abortion she underwent in New York City when she was 15 but had since found religion as a source of inspiration.
“If I wasn’t saved, I would have punched that woman in the face,” she said of the woman whose hand was injured.
As she announced the sentence, Rochon told Williams: “You cannot commit crimes, even in the name of a religious cause.”
The judge said Williams had threatened to terrorize the health facility and delivered on the pledge with violence and physical force, preventing some people from getting health services that day.
An indictment said Williams boasted on her livestream of the protest: “This is going to be a wonderful day. We are going to terrorize this place. And I want the manager to hear me say that. We are going to terrorize this place. More people are coming.”
Prior to the announcement of the sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Steiner said Williams in 2022 also had blocked access to clinics in Fort Myers, Florida, and Nashville, Tennessee, as well as Atlanta.
Steiner urged a sentence of at least three years in prison, saying it was an important prosecution “to ensure that men and women in our community will continue to have free access to medical care.”
veryGood! (2883)
Related
- 'Stranger Things' prequel 'The First Shadow' is headed to Broadway
- Two women killed in fire at senior housing complex on Long Island
- Daytona 500 complete results, finishing order as William Byron wins 2024 NASCAR opener
- Biden raised $42 million in January, his campaign says
- 3 years after the NFL added a 17th game, the push for an 18th gets stronger
- Study warned slope failure likely ahead of West Virginia Target store's collapse
- The Hoosier Gym, home of the Hickory Huskers, still resonates with basketball fans
- 'Oscar Wars' spotlights bias, blind spots and backstage battles in the Academy
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- West Virginia coal miner’s death caused by safety failures, federal report says
Ranking
- What polling shows about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ new running mate
- Hilary Swank Reveals Stories Behind Names of Her Twins Aya and Ohm
- Maine wants to lead in offshore wind. The state’s governor says she has location for a key wind port
- A puppy is found dead in a backpack in a Maine river. Police are now looking for answers.
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- First federal gender-based hate crime trial starts over trans woman's killing
- Ranking 10 NFL teams positioned to make major progress during 2024 offseason
- Horoscopes Today, February 19, 2024
Recommendation
Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
Daytona 500 complete results, finishing order as William Byron wins 2024 NASCAR opener
Alaska’s chief medical officer, a public face of the state’s pandemic response, is resigning
Mortician makes it to Hollywood on 'American Idol' with performance of this Tina Turner hit
Connie Chiume, South African 'Black Panther' actress, dies at 72
Giants' top exec jokes that relentless self-promotion helped fuel Pablo Sandoval's return
She disappeared leaving to catch the school bus. What to know about this missing Texas girl:
A puppy is found dead in a backpack in a Maine river. Police are now looking for answers.