Baltimore Man Who Brutally Beat Pro-Lifers Faces Years In Prison

The man who brutally beat two elderly pro-life sidewalk counselors outside of a Planned Parenthood will be sentenced in Baltimore on Thursday. 

Patrick Brice, 28, could face years in prison for attacking then-73-year-old Mark Crosby and 84-year-old Richard Schaefer on May 26, 2023, as they urged women not to get abortions. The attack was captured on surveillance footage, but Brice was not arrested until July 2024. 

In the video, released by the Baltimore Police Department, Brice can be seen having a heated argument with Schaefer before tackling him into a potted plant. Crosby then runs up and is thrown to the ground by Brice. Brice, who is 6’5, then punches Crosby in the face before standing up, kicking him in the head, and walking off. 

After the attack, Crosby was treated for a fractured bone in his face, blindness in one eye, head and neck pain, two fractured fingers, and bruising on his arms and legs. Crosby says that the attack left him with photophobia, meaning he has to cover his right eye on sunny days and from very bright lights. 

Brice was convicted earlier this year of two counts of second-degree assault and two counts of reckless endangerment. He dodged a more serious first-degree assault charge in both a jury trial and a bench trial.

A second-degree assault conviction in Maryland can carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $2,500 fine. It would be up to the judge to determine whether the sentences would be served one at a time or concurrently. 

The reckless endangerment convictions could carry penalties of up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. 

Circuit Judge Yvette M. Bryant, who will sentence Brice, claimed during the trial that video footage could suggest that Crosby was looking to join in a fight after he ran up after seeing Schaefer tackled to the ground, Catholic Review reported. 

Crosby has repeatedly said that Baltimore authorities have dragged their feet in bringing his attacker to justice. He says that he was prohibited from showing pictures of his beaten face at the trial and that Brice’s defense attorneys suggested he and Schaeffer were racist.