Man charged in assault on abortion protester

BELFAST – The Waldo County Sheriff’s Department charged an Appleton man with assault after he allegedly struck an abortion protester with a placard at the entrance to the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity last weekend.

Patrick Flynn, 39, was summoned, and additional charges may follow, according to sheriff’s Lt. Gary Boynton.

The incident allegedly took place Saturday afternoon at the fair’s south entrance on Route 220 in Thorndike.

A group of protesters against abortion was at the entrance to confront fair patrons as they arrived. The group carried placards with graphic photographs of aborted fetuses.

According to Deputy Dale Brown’s police report, traffic was moving slowly and Flynn became upset when he saw the photographs the protesters were carrying. He told Brown that the placards were “offensive” to him and his children. Flynn stopped his van and stepped out to confront the protesters. He allegedly took a swing at one protester but missed. He then apparently grabbed a placard from a protester’s hands and struck him with it.

Flynn then climbed back into his van and continued to scream at the protesters as he drove off. The van allegedly struck one of the protesters as it drove away. The protesters gave sheriff’s deputies a description of the van, and Brown traced it to Flynn.

Boynton said Flynn “admitted to Dale that he hit the guy with the sign.” It was not until Brown returned to the scene that he realized one of the protesters might have been hit by the van as well, he said.

“That’s why there may be more charges,” Boynton said Tuesday. “Dale still has to interview more witnesses.”

Boynton said deputies received a number of complaints from fair patrons about the graphic nature of the protesters’ placards. He said the protesters displayed copies of the First Amendment and letters from a lawyer when deputies informed them of the complaints.

“They were very aware of their rights,” Boynton said.