C-Falls man charged in abortion clinic vandalism
A 24-year-old Columbia Falls man has been charged with breaking into and vandalizing the All Families Healthcare clinic, Kalispell’s only abortion provider.
Kalispell police arrested Zachary Klundt on March 4 around 6 p.m. after a resident reported seeing a possibly drunk man trying to pick a lock at a business on South Main Street in Kalispell.
Klundt was found in possession of a loaded, concealed handgun, a loaded spare magazine and several other weapons, according to police. Officers also noted “substantial similarities” between Klundt and the suspect in the abortion clinic break-in.
Klundt was later charged with felony counts of burglary, criminal mischief, theft and attempted burglary.
The break-in at the abortion clinic was reported around 8:30 a.m. the day of Klundt’s arrest. Entry to the building was made through a broken back door window. Damage to medical equipment and the building is expected to run in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan said Klundt allegedly broke a hole in a sewer line, covered everything in the main area of the clinic with powdered iodine, sprayed a fire extinguisher over everything and smashed every picture in the building.
About $950 in cash was reported missing from the clinic. When Klundt was arrested, he allegedly had cuts to his hands, glass shards in his pocket and $915 in his pocket.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Posse assisted Kalispell police in investigating the case.
Susan Cahill, the physician assistant who runs the clinic, has expressed frustration and anger about people who try to stop her clinic from performing a legal procedure she believes is a human right.
And she’s no stranger to sometimes violent actions by people opposed to abortion. In October 1994, Cahill was working for Dr. James Armstrong at a Kalispell abortion clinic when Richard Andrews, of Wenatchee, Wash., set fire to the clinic.
Andrews was later sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to eight counts of arson. His arson spree caused an estimated $1 million in damages.
A local group called 40 Days For Life that had planned to hold a 24-hour per day vigil outside the abortion clinic starting March 5 announced they would delay their vigil for at least one week. The group said they oppose the use of vandalism or violence.