CathInfo.com

April 12, 2023 5:00am EDT
By Joe Schoffstall | Fox News

Biden DOJ recommends no jail time for trans vandal of Catholic church:
Biden's administration previously came down hard on pro-life activists.

President Biden's Justice Department offered what critics are calling a sweetheart plea deal to a vandal who admitted to defacing a Catholic church with profane graffiti, destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary, assaulting a church worker, and resisting arrest.

A plea agreement reviewed by Fox News Digital shows that the DOJ recommends zero jail time for the perp, Maeve Nota, a 31-year-old transgender individual who vandalized the St. Louise Catholic Church in Bellevue, Washington, following Roe v. Wade's overturning last June.

Nota sharply contrasts with the Biden administration's earlier approach of throwing the book at pro-life protesters outside abortion clinics.
 
"It is very clear that the Biden Justice Department has politicized and weaponized the FACE Act to go after pro-life Christians praying outside of abortion clinics like Mark Houck while turning a blind eye to violent felons terrorizing and badly damaging Catholic churches like Maeve Nota," Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project, told Fox News Digital.

WASHINGTON STATE CATHOLIC CHURCH VANDALIZED WITH GRAFFITI IN SUSPECTED HATE CRIME: 'WOMEN HATERS'

Maeve Nota smashes a glass door at St. Louise Catholic Church in Bellevue, Washington. (Twitter)

"The Biden Justice Department tried to put Houck in prison for 11 years for defending his son while recommending no jail time for Nota after this deranged trans terrorist badly damaged a Catholic church, fought with the police, assaulted a church employee, and scared the hell out of a little old lady praying," Davis said.

Nota smashed two glass doors with rocks and spray-painted the church's outside walls with messages that read, "F--- Catholics," "rot in your fake hell," "kid groomers," and "woman haters," among several other messages.

A church staff member was spray-painted across their face while attempting to chase Nota away.

When officers located Nota, police said he used a backpack full of spray paint cans to smash the police vehicle before turning himself in.
Nota appeared intoxicated during the arrest and was said to be angry about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe. v. Wade the week before the incident, investigators previously told KOMO News.

President Biden's DOJ charged Nota with a misdemeanor and is recommending no jail time.  (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)
Shortly following the event, Police Capt. Darryl McKinney told FOX13 Seattle that the $10,000 in damages fall under a hate crime statute.
According to filings from early March, Biden's Justice Department hit Nota with destruction of religious property, a misdemeanor that can carry up to one year in prison and $100,000 in fines.

A week later, however, a previously unreported plea agreement between the Justice Department, Nota, and his attorney shows that they will recommend no jail time and three years of probation at the time of his sentencing on June 2.



Door smashed by Maeve Nota in St. Louise Catholic Church in Bellevue, Washington. (Twitter via the Bellevue Police)

The Justice Department did not respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry on the recommendation.

Nota's situation sharply contrasts with pro-life activist Mark Houck, whose encounter with a Planned Parenthood escort led to the Federal Bureau of Investigation raiding his home and the Biden administration wanting him to face 11 years in prison.

A jury acquitted Houck after he allegedly pushed a Planned Parenthood escort during an encounter outside an abortion clinic.
The Biden administration alleged Houck violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which criminalizes using force with the intent to injure, intimidate and interfere with clinic workers.