Fourth Attack On Clinic In New Mexico

A flaming shopping cart was rammed through the glass door of an abortion clinic early Friday, the fourth attack on the clinic this year.

Ricky Lee McDonald, 38, of Albuquerque was captured on a surveillance camera and arrested at a bar hours later, authorities said. He was charged in all four attacks.

No one was injured in the latest attack on the Abortion & Reproductive Health Services clinic, which is on the first floor of an office building.

The glass door was shattered but the clinic - empty at the time - sustained no other damage. The shopping cart contained a can of flaming solvent that was quickly extinguished.

At his hearing Friday, McDonald gave U.S. Magistrate William Deaton Jr. the finger and refused to answer the judge. He was ordered held without bail pending a hearing Monday.

McDonald will be tried under a 1994 federal law that makes it a crime to block access to an abortion clinic, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Catherine McCulloch. He also was charged under a federal arson law. He faces up to 26 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

In January, chains and padlocks were found twice on the clinic entrance. A small fire was set near the clinic’s entrance in the third incident, also in January, authorities said.

Authorities had already questioned McDonald about the first three attacks.