Tiller Investigation: FBI on the Case

At last, a report on the FBI investigation into Dr Tiller's assassination.

The list of those visiting and communicating with the man accused of killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller reads like a who’s who of anti-abortion militants.

Two convicted clinic bombers. The man behind the Army of God Web site. Several activists who once signed a declaration that defended the killing of abortion doctors.

And federal agents have now talked to many of them.

As Scott Roeder sits in the Sedgwick County Jail awaiting trial on murder charges, a federal investigation is under way to determine whether there was a conspiracy involved in Tiller’s death.

Abortion-rights advocates say Roeder’s contacts since the shooting raise questions.

“This is definitely a concern,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation. “This guy has been in the hard-core anti-abortion circle for a long time, and there has been a pattern of communication and encouragement among these people.”

Conspiracy? You betcha!

If I were a prayin' woman. . .

I'd be praying for Dr LeRoy Carhart. A few days ago, JJ, the unrepentant old hippie, blogged about Dr Carhart, a very brave man.

Well, it seems he'll have to be even braver. Inscrutably, his protection by federal marshalls has been withdrawn.

Despite mounting threats to the clinic--and potentially to the life--of Nebraska Dr. Leroy Carhart, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has removed the federal marshals earlier charged with protecting him.

Dr. Carhart lost his federal marshal protection two weeks ago, much to the alarm of pro-choice leaders, leaving him vulnerable at a time when anti-choice violence has been escalating across the country, and when Carhart himself has been openly targeted by groups such as Operation Rescue, which is calling for protests at his clinic later this month. In addition, members of the Army of God, an organization that promotes the use of violence against providers of abortion care, and glorifies those who commit acts of murder, are also targetting Dr. Carhart.

Women's rights and health groups are now working strenuously to ensure that the DOJ restores protection by federal marshals for Dr. Carhart and to urge the DOJ and the FBI to investigate Tiller's murder and other strategies used by these groups as part of a pattern of domestic terrorism.

Officials at the Department of Justice could not be reached for comment this weekend. RH Reality Check will be following up with them on Monday, August 10th.

Just WTF are they thinking? Dr Carhart is Operation Scumbag's target, just like, exactly like Dr. Tiller was.

And as the volume of nuttiness and the threats of violence are rising even higher in the Excited States, they withdraw his protection???!!!!! Now????!!!!

Same as it ever was

From the New York Times, the story of Ann Lohman, who, despite constant harassment, did abortions in 19th-century New York. When finally entrapped by a man named Comstock and facing years in jail, she killed herself.

“A bloody ending to a bloody life,” Comstock commented upon hearing of her death. The newspapers echoed his sentiments. “The end of sin is death,” wrote The New York Tribune, and The Times editorialized that Lohman’s death was “a fit ending to an odious career.”

Dr Tiller's funeral is today. It will probably be a zoo. The odious Phelpses have threatened to attend.

Stop Abortion Terrorism

Yo, Barack, some leadership here maybe?

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I lurve Rachel Maddow.

Added bonus: Here's the transcript for Maddow's show and the text of her interview with Frank Schaeffer ("Words have consequences ...") on Monday.