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Rally against 'hate' planned in Newark after Planned Parenthood is targeted

An image of the Newark Planned Parenthood from the criminal complaint filed against Samuel Gulick of Middletown

Residents, advocates and elected officials plan to gather in Newark Saturday to stand up against violence directed at the Planned Parenthood clinic there last week. 

 

Last week, an incendiary device was thrownat the Planned Parenthood in Newark. The words “Deus Vult” were spray-painted on the building.

Eighteen-year-old Samuel Gulick of Middletown was arrested in connection with the incident. Court documents say his social media displayed anti-abortion ideology. 

The New Ark United Church of Christ is hosting a rally in solidarity with Planned Parenthood Saturday. 

“The City of Newark is not a place that tolerates hate and violence and vandalism,” said Rev. Cynthia Robinson of New Ark UCC, who has collaborated with Planned Parenthood of Delaware before as a member of a group called Clergy for Choice. “[Newark] is a place where we learn to work together, learn together, have community together.”

Still, Rev. Robinson is urging compassion for the young man accused of targeting the clinic in Newark, which does not offer in-clinic abortion services. “This is somebody’s child,” she said. “I know sometimes we can make folks out to be monsters, but this is somebody who was radicalized online.”

State Rep. Paul Baumbach reached out to New Ark UCC to host the rally. “We could do nothing and, I’ll say, give the appearance that hate wins, or we could do what I think our community can be counted upon, which is to join together and speak against it,” he said. 

Baumbach joins State Attorney General Kathy Jennings, New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and other elected officials expected to speak at the rally. 

The “No Place for Hate. Healthcare No Matter What.” rally starts at 10am Saturday at the New Ark United Church of Christ on E. Main St. in Newark.

Sophia Schmidt is a Delaware native. She comes to Delaware Public Media from NPR’s Weekend Edition in Washington, DC, where she produced arts, politics, science and culture interviews. She previously wrote about education and environment for The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, MA. She graduated from Williams College, where she studied environmental policy and biology, and covered environmental events and local renewable energy for the college paper.
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