Lee County Sheriff's Office
CV NEWS FEED // A pro-life advocate and grandfather was put in “one of the most notoriously violent federal prisons in the country” this week, following the criminal prosecution over his participation in a peaceful protest outside an abortion facility, according to a recent The Daily Wire report.
The Daily Wire reported that Calvin Zastrow, 63, was set to enter the Federal Correctional Institute Thomson in Illinois on October 15.
The Daily Wire’s Leif Le Mahieu wrote that the prison “has made headlines in recent years with reports of rampant violence and abuse,” as there were five suspected homicides from 2019 to early 2023 in the special management unit. In the same unit during this time, there were also two suspected suicides. Further, in 2022, there were almost 300 reports of sexual misconduct against prison employees, according to the Daily Wire report.
In July, a federal judge sentenced Zastrow to six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. As CatholicVote previously reported, Zastrow was among several pro-life advocates who were prosecuted after they participated in a peaceful protest outside of a Tennessee abortion facility in 2021.
Zastrow was the only defendant to receive prison time. An Associated Press report on the sentencing stated that he was regarded as “one of the main organizers” of the pro-life demonstration.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Wire before he entered the federal prison, Zastrow said that he was praying in preparation.
“I’m praying to be able to be able to witness for Christ,” he said. “If I’m miserable there and can’t sleep well then I’ll just suffer with honor for Jesus.”
Zastrow also commented on the cognitive dissonance of where the federal government directs its personnel’s efforts. “They don’t have enough federal agents protecting former presidents from getting shot in the head,” he said. “But they’ve got plenty of Marshals to go hunt down and find pro-lifers and put them in prison.”
In January, Zastrow and several co-defendants were convicted of violating the controversial Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and of “felony conspiracy charges,” according to CatholicVote. In August, CatholicVote reported that Texas Rep. Chip Roy’s office found that since the FACE Act was established in 1994, 97% of all FACE Act prosecutions have been brought against pro-life defendants.
