South Carolina man arrested after threatening pro-life group with grenade

A man has been arrested in South Carolina after threatening a group of pro-life activists with a deactivated grenade.

Key Takeaways:

• Pro-lifers from the group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust were threatened with a grenade while protesting outside a church Sunday morning.

• Police later determined the grenade was hollowed out.

• The pro-life group was protesting the church's involvement with pro-abortion organizations.

The Details:

Richard Lovelace, 79, a retired lawyer, faces charges after allegedly harassing pro-lifers from the group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, whose members were gathered outside St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Conway, South Carolina.

Police were called to the church on Sunday morning after Lovelace reportedly approached the group, held out the grenade and waved it around in the air.

"I have a grenade for y'all. A gift for you protestors," Lovelace told the group.

A video of the incident was shared on the group's Instagram page.

“I tried to stay calm and peaceful and I said, ‘Why do you have that for? What is that?’ and I was hoping that I was not seeing it correctly,” Survivors member Jessica Newell told WMBF News.

Police arrived at the scene, and Lovelace was arrested. Authorities later determined that the grenade was hollowed out.

Zoom In:

Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust further detailed its reason for being at the church on Instagram:

Survivors was protesting outside Saint Anne’s this morning because many of their members and high leadership, including Lovelace’s wife who is a board member at the church as well as a judge in South Carolina, are big supporters of Palmetto state abortion fund; who partner with Planned Parenthood to traffic abortion pills into the state and help women travel outside of the state to kill their children.

The Bottom Line:

Though the grenade was deactivated, the threat itself is concerning to pro-lifers, especially because violence against pro-lifers is not uncommon.

“Even if it was empty it’s like holding up a gun without bullets,” said the group's director, Tim Clement, who was part of the group outside the church. “It’s like I don’t know it’s empty or if it’s a live grenade I’ve never seen a grenade live put in my face so I was very shocked, very concerned.”