Abortion Clinic Doctor Accused of Pointing Gun at Pro-Life Protester
More than a week after the original incident, a Phoenix doctor has been arrested after pro-life demonstrators claimed a gun was pointed at them during a pro-life protest outside an abortion clinic.
Dr. Ronald Yunis, 52, was charged Friday with aggravated assault in connection with the incident, the Phoenix Police Department reported in a Facebook post.
On Oct. 10, police received reports from the Acacia Women’s Center that said a man in a car pointed a gun at pro-life demonstrators, according to the Arizona Republic.
A video posted by the group Apologia Studios shows protesters milling about outside the clinic as a car leaves. A voice on the video claims the person driving is “the abortionist.”
A protester then goes near the car and calls out, “Dude, you’re a coward.” The video then appears to show the driver pointing a gun at the protester before driving off.
The time between the incident and the arrest grated on the pro-life protestors, who feared no action might be taken.
Jeff Durbin, pastor of Apologia Church in Mesa, Arizona, said that if it had been pro-life protesters accused of pointing a gun at someone, the response would have been different, according to TheBlaze.
“We don’t actually carry [weapons] at the abortion mill, because we don’t want any confusion about our purposes there,” Durbin told TheBlaze. “If we had been involved in anything like [what Yunis allegedly did], there is absolutely no question I’d be behind bars.”
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Durbin, according to AZFamily.com. “This is a doctor pulling a deadly weapon and pointing it at them and threatening them. This is a very serious situation.”
Phoenix police said in the Facebook statement that the lapse in time between the incident and the arrest was necessary to carry out an investigation.
“We have received many inquiries regarding an incident that happened on October 10th outside a Phoenix medical office, where a man claimed a doctor pulling out of the facility pointed a gun at him,” the statement began.
“Police responded to the incident, gathering evidence, including video recorded by one of the people outside the women’s clinic. The initial report taken by the responding officer was filed that day. The suspect’s identity had not been confirmed at that point and officers determined that any immediate threat no longer existed as the suspect had left the location,” the statement said.
The statement said that with no active threat, there was a process police had to follow.
“At this point, the investigative process began, focused on gathering interviews and evidence while protecting the rights of all the individuals. The goal of this process is to determine if there is enough probable cause to make an arrest,” the statement said.
“On Thursday morning, detectives interviewed the Yunis [sic]. That final step in the evidence gathering process was brought back to the police department where it was determined there was sufficient probable cause to make an arrest,” the statement said.
“On Friday morning, officers began the process of taking Yunis into custody. He faces aggravated assault charges,” the statement said.
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