According to a phone interview Jacobson had last week with the Daily Signal, Jacobson visited the Harvey household by herself while canvassing in opposition to Michigan Proposal 3. If successful, the proposal would legalize abortion in the state. Sharon Harvey, Richard's wife, answered the door. Sharon is an abortion supporter, and the two women argued.
Jacobson told the Daily Signal that Sharon refused to listen and told Jacobson to leave the property. Jacobson said that Sharon followed Jacobson down the porch and continued to yell as Jacobson left. At this point, Jacobson turned and told Sharon to stop following her, and Richard Harvey emerged carrying a rifle.
“When that registered in my mind, I heard a shot, I felt some pain, and I thought he had hit me in the back,” Jacobson said. She told the Daily Signal that she later learned the bullet went through her shoulder and out her back, narrowly missing her spine.
Richard claims that he fired a warning shot at a tree, after which Jacobson waved a clipboard. He said he interpreted this as a motion to strike his wife, and he waved the loaded gun toward Jacobson in an attempt to knock the clipboard out of her hand. Richard claims that he accidentally fired a shot in this process. Jacobson disagrees with this account and believes the shot was purposeful.
“I do think that he knew what he was doing,” she said. “I think it was intentional.” She said that she was not waving her clipboard, and she said that she did not yell except to tell Sharon to stop following her.
After the shot, Jacobson said that the Harveys did not express concern or offer assistance, even though Sharon reportedly was holding her phone. Fearing another shot, Jacobson fled to her car. She drove herself to a police station. From there, she was brought to an emergency room.
On Sept 30, Michigan charged Richard with one count each of felonious assault, careless discharge of a gun causing injury, and reckless use of a firearm. The felonious assault charge, the most significant of the three, can carry a four-year prison sentence. Harvey's bail was set at $10,000.
