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A jury found Matthew Connelly, age 40, William Goodman, age 52, and Christopher Moscinski, age 52, guilty following a three-day trial of unlawfully remaining at the White Plains medical facility to discourage women from gaining necessary medical treatment and procedures.
Specifically, the three were found guilty on Thursday, March 17 of third-degree criminal trespass, a misdemeanor. Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah noted that the three are affiliated with the Red Rose Rescue, a pro-life religious group.
Roach said that at approximately 8:40 a.m. on Nov. 27, 2021, the three men illegally entered All Women’s Medical in White Plains, which is a private office. They then remained inside the office for approximately two hours, despite receiving multiple verbal warnings to leave the area from medical staff and members of the White Plains Police Department.
Two of the men remained in the waiting room, despite the protestations, and the third went to the floor to block anyone from gaining entry to the office.
All three were arrested by officers from the White Plains Police Department, who had to physically remove them from the area, Rocah noted.
“The District Attorney’s Office will vigorously prosecute any criminal acts that interfere with an individual’s constitutional right to freely access healthcare,” Rocah said. “There are no insignificant cases when it comes to the protection of reproductive rights.”
According to Red Rose Rescue, the “intervention" performed by Connelly, Goodman, and Moscinski was to prevent medical providers from performing abortions.
“A few clarifications. 1. More women than men participated in this rescue,” the group wrote on its Facebook page. “2. More prolife (sic) women than men entered the killing facility to save lives. 3. Not one person going into the abortuary (sic) was ever threatened, insulted, intimidated, assaulted, blocked, harassed, or forced to leave the facility by anyone associated with Red Rose Rescue.”
The group claimed that its actions are “nonviolent direct action intervention,” and that during the White Plains incident, “at least one woman left the clinic in tears.”
Red Rose Rescue had been keeping its constituents up to date with the trial with a series of posts on social media condemning the actions of many while describing the scene in the courtroom during deliberations.
“It was a blessing to have so many prayer warriors from the area prolife (sic) movement present at our trial today," Connelly said. "And we are deeply grateful for all of the virtual prayer supporters online from around the world."
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