Police: Animal Rights Activist Stabs Victim In Ohio Church Over Her Faux-Fur Boots

This image provided by the Cleveland Police Department shows Meredith Lowell. Lowell, a woman with a history of attacks on people wearing fur has been charged with attempted murder for stabbing a woman she believed was wearing the material at a church outside Cleveland, police said. (Cleveland Police Department via AP)    

An animal rights activist is facing attempted murder charges for allegedly stabbing a woman inside an Ohio church. The incident happened Wednesday night, just before children’s choir practice at Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights.

Bodycam footage shows the moment officers  arrived on the scene after receiving a call indicating someone had been attacked. A churchgoer can be seen pinning 35-year-old Meredith Lowell to the floor before officers rush in and arrest her. The victim was stabbed twice in the arm and once in the stomach. She was rushed to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Although officials say the two don’t know each other, they do believe the victim was followed into the church because of her boots.

“It is our belief that she targeted this victim because she believed she had been wearing fur,” stated Chief Annette Mecklenburg of the Cleveland Heights Police Department.”

This isn’t the first time the animal rights activist has targeted someone. According to the police chief, Lowell was charged with attempting to hire a hit-man to murder someone who was wearing fur back in 2012. Psychologists later determined Lowell wasn’t competent to stand trial and didn’t pose a danger to the community. Last year, however, she stabbed a woman wearing a jacket with a fur-lined hood. She was charged with felonious assault and was released after posting $5,000 bond. That particular case is still pending.

The police chief and church officials say they are proud of how members handled the attack. During this week’s assault, around a dozen children were whisked away and gathered in a backroom where they huddled inside a large tent.

“Jesus said, ‘let the children come to me. Do not prohibit them from coming to me.’ Our stance as a church has to always be, ‘let them come and when they come, make sure they are safe.'”  

— Rev. Jessie Macmillan, interim pastor – Fairmount Presbyterian Church

Church officials said the group of children prayed not only for the victim’s recovery, but for Lowell as well. Although closed for the next few days, the church will reopen and Sunday service will resume as normal. Meanwhile, Lowell’s been charged with felonious assault and attempted murder. She remains in jail on a $1 million bond.