Planned Parenthood supporters are taking a victory lap after a Texas grand jury hit the creators of the Planned Parenthood sting videos with a felony indictment, and cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing.
“Can I get a HELL YEAH?” tweeted New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray. “Jury investigating ‘misconduct’ at Planned Parenthood indict the hoax video makers instead.”
The Houston grand jury set out to investigate Planned Parenthood after the Center for Medical Progress released a series of undercover videos exposing the non-profit’s allegedly illegal dealing in aborted fetuses. But the grand jury indicted David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt Monday on felony charges, and cleared Planned Parenthood of all wrongdoing.
“Woke up in SUCH a good mood this morning, remembering Daleiden’s indictment,” a student editor at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill tweeted Tuesday, along with emojis of fingernails being painted, a girl dancing and the hand signal for power. “#StandWithPP”
“Planned Parenthood hoax officially blows up: Texas grand jury decides to indict video creators instead,” Salon.com gleefully tweeted in response to the news.
“Daleiden could get twenty years if convicted,” tweeted a senior legal analyst with the handle @AngryBlackLady, accompanied by a cheering emoji.
Daleiden and Merritt were charged with tampering with a government document, because they allegedly used fake California drivers licenses with an intent to defraud Planned Parenthood. Daleiden was also charged with attempting to purchase human organs, a misdemeanor.
“No irony can be more perfect than David Daleiden being indicted under the same law he said Planned Parenthood broke,” Daily Beast staff writer Samantha Allen tweeted.
“LOL: Houston grand jury declines to indict Planned Parenthood; instead indicts folks behind the video sting!” tweeted Talking Points Memo founder Josh Marshall.
Planned Parenthood spokesman Eric Ferrero said the non-profit is “glad” for the indictments. “These people broke the law to spread malicious lies about Planned Parenthood in order to advance their extreme anti-abortion political agenda,” he said in a statement Monday.
CMP said Daleiden and Merritt used the same undercover techniques investigative journalists have been using “for decades” and followed all applicable laws, citing their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and of the press in defense of the indictments in a statement Monday.
“The TX grand jury decision to clear [Planned Parenthood] & indict anti-choice activists represents a victory for truth over baseless, partisan attacks,” tweeted Florida Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel.
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