Columbia man charged in Planned Parenthood fire
Federal prosecutors charged a Columbia man Monday with arson at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia.
Wesley B. Kaster, 42, was charged in federal court in Jefferson City with one count of maliciously damaging a building, by means of fire or an explosive, owned by an organization that receives federal assistance. Kaster was arrested Saturday and remained in federal custody Monday pending a detention hearing set for Thursday.
The complaint was filed Monday and charges still need to be presented before a grand jury, said Don Ledford, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office.
Surveillance video from the clinic and neighboring businesses showed Kaster early Feb. 10 parking his van near the door of the clinic and carrying a bucket to the clinic’s outer door, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release. Kaster broke the front door, put the bucket inside the building and threw something resembling a Molotov cocktail inside, a federal affidavit says.
Kaster watched the building from outside before enter through the broken door, the affidavit states. A short time later two people who had walked to the biulding went with Kaster across Providence Road to his waiting van and drove away, the U.S. attorney’s release said.
Kaster returned later and walked to the door with an object in his hand before smoke could be seen billowing from the broken glass door, according to the release. Kaster ran along the north side of the road from the clinic, the release said.
The fire was put out by a sprinkler system but damaged the clinic and caused it to close temporarily. Investigators found two 5-gallon buckets containing gasoline, one inside the other, just inside the broken doorway along with the remains of a Molotov cocktail, the release said. Authorities connected Kaster to the purchase of the buckets and gloves recovered at the scene, which came from his workplace, the release said.
Kaster’s wife posted on Facebook showing a handgun and the words “Guns Don’t Kill People, Planned Parenthood Kills People,” authorities said.
Federal authorities searched Kaster’s van after he left his Jefferson City workplace and took him to get hair samples. They also searched his house and collected evidence that tied Kaster to the crime scene, according to the affidavit.
Kaster could serve 20 years in prison if convicted. Ledford said he could not comment further on the case because it is pending.
Kaster’s public defender, Troy Stabenow, was appointed Monday, according to the federal public defender’s office in Jefferson City. Stabenow was in court Monday morning and not immediately available for comment.
In a statement, Planned Parenthood Great Plains President and CEO Brandon Hill said, “Let this send a clear message: Blocking access to essential health care is against the law, whether it takes the form of violence and vandalism or threats against our patients, our providers, or our supporters.”
He said they will “not stop fighting for the rights of our patients.”
