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Anti-abortion activist to be brought before federal judge over allegedly attempting to destroy building that will be used as a Danville abortion clinic

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* US Attorney’s Office…

A Prophetstown, Illinois, man, Philip J. Buyno, 73, has been arrested and charged by federal criminal complaint with attempting to use fire to damage a building used in interstate commerce. Danville, Illinois, police officers arrested Buyno on Saturday, May 20th, and he is scheduled to appear in federal court in Urbana today at 1:15 pm before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long. At that time, Judge Long will address whether Buyno will be released on conditions of bond or held in custody pending further proceedings.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, Danville police officers responded to an alarm at 600 N. Logan Avenue in Danville around 4:30 a.m. early Saturday morning. They found Buyno stuck inside a maroon Volkswagen Passat that he had backed into the entrance of the building, which is being renovated for use as a reproductive health clinic. According to the affidavit, Buyno brought several containers filled with gasoline with him.

If convicted of attempted arson, Buyno faces a minimum penalty of five years up to twenty years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years of supervised release.

The charges are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, and the Danville Police Department. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller is representing the government in the prosecution.

Members of the public are reminded that a complaint is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

* WAND…

“Let’s focus and call it what it is. This is an act of terrorism, and this is a fight against women’s rights,” said Caylynne Dobbles, President of VC Pride Coalition. […]

WAND reached out to Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. who said that he did not have a comment due to this being an open investigation.

“The community should know that not everyone on either side is like this. Not everyone is out to hurt people or harm buildings. And that the VC Pride Coalition is here,” said Dobbles.

* WCIA…

A neighbor, who doesn’t want to be identified, says she heard banging that sounded like someone was messing with her car, but instead, she says it was someone ramming their own car into the clinic building. She says shortly after she saw a man trying to get away. […]

The neighbor says police used to sit in the parking lot to keep an eye on the building. But since these no-trespassing posts went up, she says she hasn’t seen them. While she doesn’t agree with the clinic opening, she says that doesn’t give people the right to destroy it.

* Chicago Tribune…

The alleged attack follows recent heated, high-profile demonstrations in support of and against abortion access in this community of about 30,000.

Earlier this month, the Danville City Council narrowly passed a controversial ban on the mailing and shipping of abortion pills, a measure Attorney General Kwame Raoul and civil rights experts have warned is illegal in Illinois. […]

The attack in Danville occurred just a few months after another man was accused of setting fire to a Planned Parenthood Health Center roughly a hundred miles away in Peoria.

Tyler W. Massengill, 32, of Chillicothe in February pleaded guilty to setting the fire; when he was arrested in January, he told authorities that an ex-girlfriend had an abortion several years ago in Peoria, which upset him. The blaze was set a few days after Illinois passed expansive reproductive rights legislation that included protections for abortion providers and out-of-state patients as well as an expansion of the pool of clinicians that can perform abortions.

Buyno is a decades-long activist. Click here for video of him being arrested outside a clinic in Milwaukee back in 1991. And click here to see him talk about being arrested in Peoria a few years ago.

posted by Isabel Miller
Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:46 am

Comments

Prophetstown, fitting name

Comment by Boone's is Back Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:51 am
“Buyno is a decades-long activist.”

Which is more likely: that he only started committing violent crimes like arson in his 70s, or that that’s when he first screwed up and got caught?

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:55 am
–Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. who said that he did not have a comment due to this being an open investigation.–

Utter cowardice. Running away from the firestorm he helped to start

What a sad, small man.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:12 pm
“Activist” is a generous label.

Comment by SubRosa Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:14 pm
=== WAND reached out to Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. who said that he did not have a comment due to this being an open investigation ===

Is it still an open investigation after the suspect has been arrested and charged? I thought that was the definition of a closed case.

Comment by vern Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:16 pm
Buyno. Hey dude no is in your name. Just no.

Comment by Amalia Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:19 pm
=“Activist” is a generous label.=

Considering he is a terrorist, you are correct.

Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:31 pm
=“Activist” is a generous label.=

Considering he is a terrorist, you are correct.

–Exactly.

Comment by SubRosa Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:50 pm
Terrorist… misogynist… criminal… definitely need to replace the “activist” label.

Comment by Squirrel Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:13 pm
===definitely need to replace===

1) Get your own blog;

2) “Members of the public are reminded that a complaint is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.”

3) I got called out on Twitter yesterday by someone who said I should’ve referred to him as “pro-life.” All y’all can bite me.

Get back to the actual topic at hand.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:15 pm
++ Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. who said that he did not have a comment ++

Is it so hard to denounce acts of violence in the community? Sheesh.

Comment by Politix Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:25 pm
We all need to be aware and diligent in these times to violence and abhor all violence as a means to put forward either political views or religious beliefs.

This isn’t a “whatabout” or “both sides” kind of thought for me.

What it is… is exactly what I wrote, exactly as I wrote it.

Full weight of the law, if found guilty, the full weight of the court.

As an individual episode here, there’s no good here, no good in violence here, no good in pursuing a better country here either.

It hurts and angers every time these choices are made.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:28 pm
More like Philip No-Bueno, amirite

Comment by The Truth Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:28 pm
Give the terrorist 20 years with no time off for good behavior. If we look up enough of them for long enough, the others will encourage nonviolent ways to protest.

Comment by froganon Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:42 pm
This country has needed a domestic terrorist law for decades.

Comment by Glengarry Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:59 pm
The mayor’s reaction is classic. You started this fire sir. The irresponsible unenforceable resolution lit the Batsignal for terrorists.

Comment by Kelly Cassidy Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:45 pm
= Is it still an open investigation after the suspect has been arrested and charged? I thought that was the definition of a closed case. =

Not necessarily. They may be investigating whether others were involved, whether he had additional targets in mind, etc.

Comment by JoanP Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:53 pm
When the Mayor signed up with fringe element knuckleheads pining for the legal fight that every attorney from his own City Attorney to the IL Attorney General counseled him was illegal - he invited the other crazies to his community. Any person with an ounce of political acumen knew that these were the national violent nut jobs.

Mayor Williams personally cast the deciding vote. Naive at best in terms of who he was partnering with, totally incompetent more likely.

Comment by Yep Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:16 pm
His actions are probably legal in Texas.

Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 4:18 pm
–They may be investigating whether others were involved–

Yeah, like the mayor.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 4:56 pm