BALTIMORE — A Baltimore man will avoid jail time after being caught on camera beating a pair of elderly protesters outside Planned Parenthood on N. Howard Street back in May of 2023.
Despite a jury convicting him on two counts each of second-degree assault and reckless endangerment, Patrick Brice was ordered to serve just one-year of home detention, according to the Thomas More Society, who represents Mark Crosby, one of two pro-lifers that were violently attacked.
The sentence was handed down last week by Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Yvette M. Bryant.
Tom Brejcha, the President and Chief Counsel of Thomas More Society, called the punishment "disgraceful."
“This was not a minor altercation between two parties with differing views on abortion," Brejcha said in a follow-up statement. "It was a vicious, targeted assault on two senior citizens whose only offense was praying for expectant mothers and offering life-affirming alternatives to abortion."
WMAR-2 News first reported on the surveillance video upon its release.
It shows Brice rushing and tackling Richard Schaefer, who was 80-years-old at the time, over a flowerpot.
Crosby, who was 73 then, runs over to help only to be shoved to the ground by Brice.
While already down on his back, Brice is seen punching and kicking Crosby in the face with extreme force leaving both men hospitalized with significant injuries, including broken bones.
“One of the victims was knocked unconscious. The other suffered broken facial bones and a lifelong eye impairment," said Brejcha. "This was an act of cowardice and cruelty, and sheer mayhem. This crime deserves far more serious consequences than a get out of jail free card and a one-year home detention that amounts to nothing more than a slap on the wrist.”
As part of his sentence, Brice will also serve three-years of supervised probation.
