Footage released of brutal attack on anti-abortion rights protestors outside Baltimore Planned Parenthood
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore police released footage Thursday of a brutal attack last month on anti-abortion rights demonstrators outside a Planned Parenthood location last month in a bid to find the suspect.
The attack involved the suspect tackling an 80-year-old man and pummeling a 73-year-old man before kicking him "with extreme force" in the face, police said.
Anyone who recognizes the man in the footage below is asked to call police at 410-396-2411 or Metro Crime Stoppers Maryland at 1-866-7LOCKUP.
Officers responded the morning of May 26 to the healthcare center on North Howard Street, where witnesses said two men were attacked.
The responding officer found the more severely injured victim, a 73-year-old man, at a local business. According to police, the man had "a large lump forming on his right eyebrow and blood and swelling around the right eye and right side of his face."
The victim told police he was demonstrating outside Planned Parenthood when an unidentified man attacked a fellow demonstrator, identified as an 80-year-old man.
The victim said he immediately tried to help but was hit by the suspect and fell to the ground, where he was struck in the face. He allegedly told police he didn't remember anything after that.
A volunteer worker who witnessed the incident told police it began with a debate over abortion rights. The witness reported that the suspect "did not yell or use obscenities, but that the suspect did talk in a loud manner to get his points across."
In the video, the man was having what police called "a visibly aggressive conversation" with the 80-year-old victim. Then the argument became physical.
The man appeared to be ready to turn away, but then rushes at the 80-year-old demonstrator and tackles him over a large flowerpot.
The victim allegedly suffered a small laceration to his hand.
When the 73-year-old came to intervene, the suspect shoved him to the ground and punched him in the face before winding up to kick him directly in the face.
Police said the man was rushed to The University of Maryland Shock Trauma, where he was "diagnosed with a large hematoma, hyphemia, and head and neck pain," but was in stable condition as of last month. His current condition was not immediately known.
An investigation is ongoing.