Man charged in arson at Planned Parenthood in Columbia, Missouri
A 42-year-old man is charged with arson, accused of setting fire to a Planned Parenthood facility in Columbia last month.
Wesley Brian Kaster of Columbia was charged in the U.S. District Court in Jefferson City with one count of maliciously damaging a building that received federal financial assistance.
Prosecutors allege Kaster used fire or an explosive to damage the Columbia health center on Feb. 10.
According to an affidavit filed with the criminal charge, a security camera captured images of a person, later identified as Kaster, walking to the center from Providence Road about 2:30 a.m.
The person in the video parked a Toyota Sienna minivan, which had a missing right front passenger-side hubcap, and carried a heavy white bucket to the north exterior door of the Planned Parenthood building. The person broke through the front door, placed the bucket inside the building, and threw a Molotov cocktail-type device inside the building.
The arsonist stood on the sidewalk outside the door and watched the inside of the building, then entered through the broken door. No explosion or fire was visible then, according to federal prosecutors.
The person returned to the building several hours later, surveillance video showed. Prosecutors say Kaster walked to the Planned Parenthood door with something in his left hand about 4 a.m.
By 4:03 a.m., smoke billowed from the broken glass door of the Planned Parenthood building. Kaster fled north along the west side of Providence Road, and west along 4th Avenue, out of view of the surveillance camera, according to affidavit.
A fire sprinkler system put out the fire before fire crews arrived. There was moderate damage to a room and its contents.
Investigators found two five-gallon buckets that had contained gasoline, one inside of the other, lying on the floor just inside the broken doorway. Investigators also recovered the remains of a Molotov cocktail.
During their investigation, federal authorities identified 55 Toyota Sienna minivans registered to Columbia residents, including one registered to Kaster.
They also located records from Lowe’s for a list of all recent purchases of five-gallon buckets from area stores in 2019, which included items allegedly purchased by Kaster. Investigators found surveillance video that showed Kaster making the purchase, prosecutors say.
Investigators contacted Kaster’s employer at a welding shop in Jefferson City where he works as a floor supervisor. Authorities said Kaster had a pair of Ansell HyFlex gloves, which were the same make, model, color and size gloves recovered from the Planned Parenthood building.
Authorities located a picture posted to the Facebook page of Kaster’s wife that depicted a handgun and the words, “Guns Don’t Kill People, Planned Parenthood Kills People,” according to the affidavit.
Federal investigators arrested Kaster Saturday after they executed multiple search warrants and collected hair specimens and evidence that allegedly tied him to the arson.
Dr. Brandon Hill, who heads Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said in a statement Monday that the organization was grateful for law enforcement’s swift response to the fire.
“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” Hill said. “With sexual and reproductive health care under attack in Missouri, our mission is more important than ever before.”
The Columbia clinic, which reopened Feb. 18, does not currently provide abortions. U.S. Western District Court Judge Brian Wimes ruled Feb. 22 that state restrictions on abortion were not “undue” burdens on women seeking abortions in Missouri.
Regulations that took effect last year require doctors that perform abortions to have admitting physician privileges at nearby hospitals. The Columbia clinic has not been able to finding a doctor with such privileges since the University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia stopped offering the privileges in 2015.
This story includes reporting from the Associated Press
