ST. PAUL, Minn, January 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Yesterday morning a man suffering from mental illness intentionally drove his family's SUV into the front doors of a St. Paul's Planned Parenthood abortuary. Yesterday marked the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade court decision that legalized abortion in the U.S.
Matthew Derosia of Cottage Grove has been named as the driver of the SUV and has been arrested and placed in Ramsey County jail on suspicion of aggravated assault.
The vehicle hit the only Planned Parenthood abortion center in the state at about 7:30 yesterday morning, reports the Associated Press. There was minor damage done to the brickwork and the front door, and the several employees in the center were not harmed.
Planned Parenthood spokesperson Kathi Di Nicola arrived when Derosia was exiting his SUV and said he was very "agitated" and was holding a crucifix, saying, "Shut down this Auschwitz."
Di Nicola said, "Nothing violent like this has happened in recent memory here." Police spokesman Peter Panos said they are accustomed to demonstrations on the anniversary of Roe, "but someone doing actual damage is very, very rare."
Brian Gibson of Pro-Life Ministries, who regularly protests in front of the facility, condemned Derosia's actions: "We're out here trying to protect the unborn from being harmed and women from being harmed, but also we don't want to see harm to anyone - including those who work at Planned Parenthood."
According to Derosia's mother, her son had been suffering from a severe mental illness resulting in him experiencing loud voices in his head.
"I'm not saying what he did was right at all. It was a terrible thing to do. But Matt talks to God, he listens to God, and he thinks God wanted him to do this," said Georjean Derosia, whose son has been committed 12 times since 2004 to several mental illness facilities.
She said Derosia's passion for saving the unborn started while working as a housekeeper in a newborn intensive care unit.
"He saw all these little babies that made it and he heard all these horror stories about the babies that made it in the trash can make noise. It made him sick," said Georjean. "He worries about these babies that get aborted and he obsesses on it."
Georjean said the last thing her son told her the night before the incident was, "You know Mom, bad things happen, when good men do nothing."
Desrosia is likely to be formally charged today.
