Man Found Not Guilty Of Planned Parenthood Bomb Threat

ST. LOUIS, MO — Anti-abortion activist John P. Ryan, 65, has been found not guilty of making a bomb threat against a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis in 2016, the Post-Dispatch reports. A Planned Parenthood employee had accused Ryan of telling her there were multiple bombs in the Forest Park Avenue facility as she walked into the building in December of that year.

Ryan was initially charged with a felony in January 2017. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner amended the charge to a misdemeanor in April when a grand jury found insufficient evidence to indict him.

Ryan denied the allegation, and his lawyer argued in court that the Planned Parenthood employee lied, making up the accusation to promote a bill creating buffer zones around health clinics that would ban protesters like Ryan. Aldermen rejected that bill last month.

A video of the incident shows Ryan approach the woman on her way into the clinic, but doesn't record what was said. Ryan's attorney said the fact that the woman showed little reaction in the video to Ryan's words undermined her accusation.

Read more from the Post-Dispatch.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.

Photo: Planned Parenthood supporters carry balloons during the St. Louis Women's March in January 2018. (J. Ryne Danielson/Patch)