Baltimore Judge’s Shock Ruling: No Jail for Violent Assault

If you want to understand how far gone our justice system is in Democrat-run cities, look no further than what just happened in Baltimore. A 28-year-old man named Patrick Brice savagely beat two elderly pro-life men—one of them 84 years old—and he’s not going to spend a single day behind bars. That’s not justice. That’s political favoritism dressed up as leniency.

Mark Crosby, 73, and Richard Schaefer, 84, were peacefully demonstrating outside a Planned Parenthood facility in May 2023. These are men who dedicate their golden years to saving unborn children and offering women hope. For that, they were brutally assaulted. Crosby suffered a fractured facial bone, two broken fingers, head trauma, and even temporary blindness in one eye. His attacker? He gets to stay home.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Yvette M. Bryant sentenced Brice to one year of home detention and three years of probation. That’s it. For an unprovoked, videotaped beating that left one man bloodied and permanently injured, Brice will be able to go to work, attend medical appointments, and presumably catch the evening news from his own couch. Justice was not just denied—it was mocked.

This is the same Baltimore where violent crime surges, murderers are coddled, and criminals are treated as victims. Crosby put it plainly: “Baltimore City is criminal-friendly. It’s not victim-friendly at all, especially if you’re a senior.” He’s absolutely right. And if you’re a pro-lifer? Forget it. You’re not just ignored—you’re targeted.

The Left constantly screeches about “hate crimes” and “political violence,” but when the victims are Christian, elderly, and pro-life, suddenly none of that applies. Brice wasn’t charged with a hate crime, even though Crosby says he intentionally ripped the crucifix off his neck and hurled it into the bushes. If the roles were reversed—if a Trump supporter beat a progressive activist and threw their rainbow flag into the gutter—there would be federal charges, wall-to-wall media hysteria, and a 20-year prison sentence.

And let’s be clear: this wasn’t some minor scuffle. Surveillance video shows Brice tackling Schaefer into a potted plant, shoving Crosby to the ground, then straddling the 73-year-old man and punching him repeatedly in the face before kicking him in the head. That’s not a “bad day.” That’s a violent assault with malicious intent.

The prosecutors even asked for 10 years in prison, calling for a “strong message of deterrence.” Instead, Judge Bryant sent the opposite message: If you assault a pro-lifer in broad daylight, you’ll get a slap on the wrist—maybe a few restrictions on your travel plans. That’s what passes for accountability in a city run by soft-on-crime ideologues.

Brice’s defense? He “snapped” after an elderly man supposedly made a racial remark. So now “I was having a bad day” is a legal defense? Are we going to start excusing all street violence based on whoever claims emotional distress? The justice system isn’t supposed to weigh your feelings—it’s supposed to weigh your actions. And Brice’s actions were criminal, violent, and calculated.

This case is a litmus test for the moral decay infecting our institutions. We were told under Biden that “democracy is at stake” and that “political violence must be condemned.” But when the victims wear crucifixes and pray outside abortion clinics, the silence is deafening. The media yawns. The Democrats shrug. And the courts hand out probation.

Yet even after all this, these two courageous men—Crosby and Schaefer—are still out there, standing for life, bearing witness, and taking the hits. These are the kind of men we should be honoring, not abandoning. As Crosby said, being beaten for defending the unborn was “the most glorious” day of his life. That’s faith. That’s conviction. That’s what real courage looks like.

Meanwhile, Baltimore’s leadership continues to protect criminals over citizens, ideology over law, and chaos over order. If we don’t reclaim our cities, our courts, and our moral compass, this won’t be an outlier—it’ll be the new normal.

The American people deserve better. Our justice system should defend the innocent, not coddle the violent. And if the judges won’t fix it, we will—at the ballot box, in the courts, and in the streets where truth still matters. Enough is enough.