Illustration by Hokyoung Kim

Whitney Maddox was waiting for an Uber in east Knoxville, Tennessee, one early Friday morning in January when he spotted a black sedan idling outside a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Assuming the car was for him, Maddox hurried over and peered inside. Then he bolted away. What he saw in the vehicle, he later told police, was a white man with a white bandana over his face. The man was holding a shotgun and pointing it at the clinic doors.

It was Jan. 22, the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade .

By the time law enforcement arrived, the suspect was gone. The clinics front door, made of glass, was blown out . Shotgun casings were scattered on the ground. Inside, shot marred the walls. An investigation is ongoing, but so far, no one has been arrested or charged in the crime.

The clinic was closed and unoccupied when the shooting occurred. But it seemed intended to send an intimidating message to patients and staff: You are not safe here. It also had the practical effect of halting services for the day. On the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide, patients had their appointments rescheduled.

The fight over abortion rights is at a tumultuous stage right now, both in Tennessee which passed one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country last year, only to see it promptly blocked by the courts and nationally, as Republican-led states push extreme bills in the hopes that one will eventually serve as the vehicle to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Anti-abortion activists are regrouping after the defeat of former President Donald Trump, and grappling with a White House that supports abortion rights. Trump, who claimed to be the most pro-life president ever, spent four years demonizing abortion, spouting inflammatory rhetoric and spreading misinformation. During this time, abortion clinics across the country saw a spike in threats of violence and acts of obstruction and intimidation. The FBI predicted that attacks on abortion clinics would likely rise further during the presidential election cycle, and it says 2021 is apt to bring more unrest.

Despite Trumps loss, many anti-abortion activists are still optimistic that a conservative Supreme Court, cemented by his three nominees , will vote to end the constitutional right to abortion. Others have become even more radicalized by President Joe Bidens win. A handful of known anti-abortion activists were spotted in and around the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, when Trump supporters stormed the building in a deadly assault.

One activist, who spoke at a pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C., the night before the riot, was particularly notable to reproductive health advocates in Tennessee: Ken Peters, a fiery pastor who organizes religious protests outside abortion clinics.

An anti-masker who wrongly believes Trump won the 2020 election, Peters recently moved to Knoxville to begin the latest chapter of his organization, The Church At Planned Parenthood, or TCAPP. In his own words, TCAPP is a worship service at the gates of hell. Peters and his supporters set up as close to a Planned Parenthood clinic as possible, in order to sing and pray against what they see as the evils of abortion. His most recent target: the Knoxville clinic.