SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash — A man was arrested Saturday afternoon after he admitted to smashing windows at the Spokane Valley Planned Parenthood, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.
Joshua Balazs was arrested for first-degree malicious mischief and his bond is set at $2,500. As of Tuesday morning, he was still housed in the Spokane County Jail.
According to Spokane County Sheriff’s Corporal Mark Gregory, around 12:30 p.m. Saturday a neighbor called police and reported seeing a man throwing rocks at the health center on East Main Avenue.
Planned Parenthood Spokesperson Paul Dillon said 14 windows, including the glass on the front door, were broken and their security team estimates the damage to cost between $25,000 and $30,000.
When deputies arrived, Gregory said Balazs admitted to breaking the windows and he was “glad he did.” He told deputies that a family member had an abortion and later died by suicide, according to Gregory. Balazas is not known to deputies or Planned Parenthood staff.
Dillon said the incident was captured on surveillance video.
“We don’t think this was random since this happened 24 hours after the hearing against ‘The Church at Planned Parenthood’ coupled with the national and local rhetoric from anti-abortion extremists,” Dillon said. “The arresting officers said he kept repeating ‘baby killers’ so we know his motive.”
PHOTOS: Planned Parenthood windows smashed
On Friday, Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho requested a permanent injunction against the ‘Church of Planned Parenthood’ in Spokane County Superior Court.
In September 2020, a judge ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood by granting a preliminary injunction against the anti-abortion group. Dillon said since the injunction, staff, patients and neighbors have witnessed violations of the order.
Planned Parenthood claims The Church at Planned Parenthood’s loud demonstrations outside facilities are interfering with patient care and violate state and local laws against excessive noise outside healthcare facilities.
The Church at Planned Parenthood describes itself as a "gathering of Christians for the worship of God and corporate prayer for repentance for this nation, repentance for the apathetic church, and repentance for our blood guiltiness in this abortion holocaust," according to its website.
Planned Parenthood claims the demonstrations aren't protected under the first amendment, because they're intended to interfere with patients' ability to seek care at the facility. Planned Parenthood cited the negative health impacts of excessive noise on patients, including increased risk of hypertension, increased pain, and a variety of psychiatric symptoms - "all of which are likely to be even more pronounced for patients seeking care from a reproductive health clinic," the statement reads.
