The final three anti-abortion activists convicted of a 2021 Tennessee clinic blockade were sentenced this week, including the person considered to be the main organizer of the action.
Chester Gallagher was sentenced on Thursday to 16 months in prison, by far the longest sentence among 11 people convicted of various offenses. In addition to organizing the March 5, 2021, blockade of a Carafem clinic in Mount Juliet, Tennesse, a town 17 miles (27.36 kilometers) east of Nashville, prosecutors said Gallgher “exploited his specialized knowledge gleaned from his law enforcement experience to prolong the blockade as long as possible.”
Gallagher and a co-defendant stalled police with phony negotiations, prosecutors said. Their actions disrupted not only the Carafem clinic, but other medical offices that shared the same building.