Leader of anti-abortion group charged with stalking San Francisco doctor at home, work
SAN FRANCISCO - Authorities on Thursday announced charges against a man accused of stalking and threatening a San Francisco doctor who performed abortions, the district attorney's office said.
Prosecutors said anti-abortion activist, Aaron Jonathan Hurley of Los Angeles, was among a group who barged into a San Francisco health care clinic and harassed a doctor who provided abortions to women.
Hurley is the leader of the group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising that authorities said targeted the unnamed doctor who works at the Women’s Options Center at San Francisco General Hospital. However, the Uprising group's executive coordinator, Kristin Monahan, emailed KTVU, denying that Hurley is a member of her organization.
In one incident on Mar. 13, Hurley and others allegedly defaced and damaged a bronze statue of the Madonna and Child at the hospital, covering it with fake blood and stickers with the doctor’s name on it. There were also handwritten notes that said "harvested" and the phrase "sold $500," prosecutors said.
The following day, Hurley and other members of PAAU, invaded the women's clinic by using a woman who pretended to be in need of counseling.
When a nurse went to speak with the woman, Hurley and other alleged trespassers came out from hiding and ran through the door. They barged into the clinic and began filming patients and staff. Staff reported that these protesters were attempting to barge into operating rooms.
The group started chanting the doctor's name and "We know who you are, we know what you do," authorities said.
That night, the group went to the doctor's home address and placed stickers that read, "a killer lives in your neighborhood" around the community and on the doctor's front door.
"The doctor was frightened for their safety and the safety of their family, given that the doctor was targeted at both their home and work," the district attorney's office said. "The doctor was forced to change their entire personal routine and route to work out of fear for their safety."
Hurley was charged with stalking, obstructing freedom of access to a clinic, vandalism, and trespassing. Another suspect, Kristen Turner, was cited and released. An arrest warrant is pending for Lauren Brice Handy, another suspect involved.