Ralph Lang

Ralph Lang of Marshfield, Wisconsin, was charged in Federal Court on charges of attempting to injure, to intimidate and to interfere with persons participating in a program and activity receiving federal financial assistance, including the attempted use of a dangerous weapon and an attempt to kill. The second count charges Lang with using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.

The charges stem from a May 25 incident in which Lang accidently discharged a gun in a motel room, with the bullet entering the room across the hall from his. When the police arrived, he told them he was planning to kill a Madison Planned Parenthood doctor who performs abortions, and had traveled from Marshfield to Madison for the purpose of killing abortion providers. Marshfield is in north central Wisconsin, near the city of Wausau, around a hundred miles from Madison.

Lang has been in custody since his arrest and is scheduled to receive a competency evaluation and hearing. If convicted, Lang would receive a life sentence on the first count and 10 years on the second.