Man pleads guilty to arson at Michigan Planned Parenthood clinic

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A person who made a video describing abortion as genocide has pleaded responsible to arson for a hearth at a Deliberate Parenthood clinic in southwestern Michigan, a prosecutor mentioned.

Joshua Brereton, 25, of Paw Paw faces a Feb. 6, 2023, sentencing after getting into the plea, U.S. Legal professional Mark Totten mentioned Wednesday. He faces 5 to twenty years in jail, adopted by three years of supervised launch.

Brereton additionally faces a effective of as much as $250,000 and will probably be ordered to pay restitution, Totten mentioned. The plea settlement estimates the quantity of restitution Brereton will probably be ordered to pay to be greater than $20,000.

“This fireplace was a mindless act of political violence,” Totten mentioned. “In our democracy, resorting to violence is rarely an appropriate means to deal with coverage disputes. Furthermore, Brereton’s actions may have injured harmless residents and first responders.”

Brereton admitted that final July 31, he went to the Paw Paw Walmart the place he purchased a hearth starter log and gasoline, then breached a safety fence on the clinic in Kalamazoo. He additionally set fires close to the entrance entrance and a nook of the constructing and lit the starter log and threw it onto the roof of the constructing.