Herb Geraghty, FACE Act and Conspiracy Against Rights, District of Columbia 2020

State: District of Columbia
Category: Public Corruption|Violent Crime
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/pennsylvania-man-indicted-freedom-access-clinic-entrances-act-and-conspiracy-against-rights" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

A 10th defendant has been charged in connection with a blockading of a reproductive healthcare clinic in Washington D.C. in October 2020.

Herb Geraghty, 25, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was indicted on two counts: conspiracy against rights and offenses under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act).

According to the superseding indictment, Geraghty communicated with Lauren Handy to plan the blockade. Handy made lodging arrangements for her co-conspirators from Michigan, New York, and Boston, and she obtained a monetary donation to pay for an Airbnb reservation for herself and Geraghty.

The indictment alleges that Handy, Smith, Harlow, Marshall, Hinshaw, Idoni, Goodman, Bell, and Geraghty forcefully entered the clinic and set about blockading two clinic doors using their bodies, furniture, chains, and ropes.

The blockade was established, and Darnel live-streamed footage of his co-defendants’ activities. The indictment also alleges that all 10 defendants violated the FACE Act by using a physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, and interfere with the clinic’s employees and a patient, because they were providing or obtaining reproductive health services.

If convicted of the offenses, the defendants each face up to a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $260,000.

The case was investigated by the FBI Washington, D.C. Field Office, and the case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Sanjay Patel of the Civil Rights Division and the Fraud, Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Geraghty’s indictment is a result of an ongoing investigation into the reproductive health services facility blockade. An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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