A mentally ill man accused of killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic in 2015 because he offered abortion services can be forcibly medicated to try to make him fit to stand trial, a federal judge ruled Monday. The prosecution of Robert Dear, 64, has been halted because he has repeatedly been found mentally incompetent since his arrest and has refused to take antipsychotic medication for a delusional disorder. During a three-day hearing this summer, prosecutors argued that the medication had a significant chance, based on research and the experience of government experts, of making Dear well enough to meet the legal standard for mental capacity — to be able to understand the proceedings and assist in his defence. Dear’s lawyers and experts, however, said the government’s plan failed to take into account Dear’s age and his health problems, such as untreated high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which could worsen as a result of the side effects of the drug. Dear, who called himself a “baby warrior,” intended to wage “war” against the clinic for offering abortion services, arming himself with four semi-automatic rifles, five handguns, two other rifles, a shotgun, propane tanks and 500 rounds of ammunition, prosecutors alleged. He began shooting outside the clinic before entering by shooting through a door, according to his federal indictment. According to experts who testified and Dear’s lawyers, Dear has persecutory delusions that make him believe the FBI is after him because he called a radio show in 1993 to criticize the agency for the law enforcement siege against the Branch complex Davidian in Waco, Texas. . He also believes his lawyers are working for the FBI and the judge is also in the setup. Dear cited the radio call in one of several outbursts during the recent hearing, where he also claimed the shooting was “successful” and told the judge to go to hell because he didn’t get to testify. He remained largely quiet after Blackburn warned him that he would not tolerate any further disturbances. The judge said he concluded that the outbursts were not the result of Dear’s mental illness but of “selfish, childish and discontented arrogance”. After Dear’s prosecution stalled in state court over the competency issue, Dear was charged in federal court in 2019 under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994. Federal prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty against him if convicted , but they would ask for a life sentence. Two of the people killed in the attack were accompanying friends to the clinic — Ke’Arre Stewart, 29, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and a father of two, and Jennifer Markovsky, 36, a mother of two who grew up in Oahu Hawaiian. The third person killed was a campus police officer at a nearby college, Garrett Swasey, who responded to the clinic after hearing there was an active shooter.
