This booking photo provided by the Peoria, Ill., Police Department shows Tyler Massengill, who pleaded guilty Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, to “malicious use of fire” to damage a Planned Parenthood clinic last month, federal law enforcement said. (Peoria Police Department via AP (ASSOCIATED PRESS).
Tyler W. Massengill, 32, of Chillicothe admitted to setting fire to the Peoria clinic with an explosive on Jan. 15, two days after Illinois approved expansive reproductive health care legislation aimed at protecting abortion patients and providers.
Security cameras caught him approaching the building with a bottle, lighting a rag on one end of it, smashing a window and putting the incendiary device inside before quickly fleeing on foot. No one was present at the clinic, and no one was injured.
Massengill, who pleaded guilty Thursday, is in jail awaiting sentencing scheduled for July 6 at the federal courthouse in Peoria. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
When Massengill was arrested on Jan. 24, he told investigators that he set fire to the building because he was reminded of an abortion his ex-girlfriend had three years ago, according to the criminal complaint.
