5 fetuses found in DC home of anti-abortion activist, police say

Investigators found 5 fetuses in DC at the home of anti-abortion activist Lauren Handy in Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the DC Police department has confirmed to WUSA9. Officers responded shortly after noon to a home on the 400 block of 6th Street SE to investigate a tip about potential bio-hazard material in the residence. Once inside, they located the fetuses. The remains were collected by the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The home was occupied by Lauren Handy, an anti-abortion activist who was indicted along with nine others Wednesday by a federal grand jury. Handy is accused of felony conspiracy against rights for a blockade inside a D.C. abortion clinic in October 2020. WUSA9’s camera was outside as DC Police homicide and forensic services detectives took evidence out in red biohazard bags and coolers from the rowhouse"s basement. Handy declined to speak on camera Wednesday, but told WUSA9 she expected the raid to happen sooner or later. She also declined to say what was in the coolers, saying only that people would freak out when they heard.\n DC Police Executive Assist. Chief of Police Ashan M. Benedict told reporters Thursday the fetuses appeared to have been aborted in accordance with D.C. law. There doesn"t appear to be anything criminal about that â€" except for how they got into that house, Benedict said. Benedict said the investigation that led officers to Handy"s home was separate from the federal investigation that resulted in her indictment Wednesday. He declined to comment on whether the department was working with agencies in other states, saying it was day one of the case. WUSA9 reached out to Handy on Thursday for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, where Handy serves as director of activism, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. D.C. Superior Court records show Handy has a history of legal issues related to her anti-abortion activities. A D.C. charter school filed a civil complaint against her for trespassing in December 2015. She was arrested for unlawful assembly outside the school earlier that year, and at different locations in 2019 and in January for unlawful entry and blocking an entrance. Only of those cases resulted in more than a ticket. That case stemmed from a March 2019 arrest at the Washington Surgi-Clinic â€" the same clinic in the indictment Handy now faces. The charge was dropped in July 2019 for want of prosecution. Lauren Hardy was among 9 people indicted this week on felony charges stemming from the 2020 invasion of an abortion clinic. MORE: https://bit.ly/3qQunvW » Subscribe to WUSA9: https://bit.ly/2lO8e2F FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA â€" Twitter: https://twitter.com/wusa9 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wusa9 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wusa9 NEWS TIPS â€" Email: newstips@wusa9.com


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