More Anti-Abortion Terrorism

I'm busy with work and revolution-watching, so I'll let Mother Jones do the reproductive rights blogging. They're good at it.

February's been a busy month in the war on reproductive rights. Last week, MoJo's Kate Sheppard broke the story about an effort in South Dakota to classify the murder of abortion doctors as a "justifiable homicide" (the bill was scrapped); this morning we told you about a similar effort in Nebraska, which the Omaha Police Department says could incite violence; and in Georgia, lawmakers are considering a bill that would conceivably permit the state to execute women who have miscarriages.

The legislators behind these efforts have generally deflected criticism by arguing that their bills are being misinterpreted. But Jacksonville, Florida mayoral candidate Mike Hogan doesn't really have that option. Participating at a candidate forum at a Catholic church on Monday, Hogan emphasized his long-standing opposition to Roe v. Wade, which is to be expected from a conservative Republican. But then he went one step further:

Hogan added that the only thing he wouldn't do was bomb an abortion clinic, then the law-and-order advocate added, with a laugh, "but it may cross my mind."

The Mandarin crowd applauded.

Har-de-har-har.

These people are terrifying. Well, that's what terrorists want.

With Friends Like These. . .

Catching up on Roeder now.

First, it is still possible that federal charges will be laid against him.

For a week, a federal investigator sat in a Wichita courtroom and listened to testimony that Scott Roeder murdered abortion provider George Tiller.

Even after the conviction came a week ago, federal investigators are still at work.

They are looking into whether the 51-year-old Kansas City man truly acted alone; at least one Roeder supporter made a striking comment about the crime last week. They might consider federal charges against Roeder as well.

It's happened before: Two other anti-abortion activists who killed abortion providers in the 1990s were charged with violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, signed into law in 1994 to prevent clinic violence. Like Roeder, the activists also were convicted of state murder charges.

Why push for federal charges when prosecutors already are assured of a long sentence?

"Additional penalties that can be assessed," said Richard Levy, a University of Kansas law professor who followed Roeder's trial. "That way, they could avoid any chance of him ever being paroled.

"Another reason for a federal prosecution is that if there might be others involved, a federal case might provide a vehicle for getting that information, whereas the state may not have an interest or the wherewithal to investigate a conspiracy that involves people in several states."

Well, we know good and well others were involved.

Federal authorities last week heard Roeder tell jurors that he began thinking about killing Tiller as far back as 1993, when Rachelle "Shelley" Shannon shot Tiller in both arms as he was leaving his clinic. During cross-examination by Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston, Roeder said he sought out people who shared his belief that killing abortion providers was an act of justifiable homicide.

Roeder testified that he visited Shannon in prison in Topeka and that he admired her for shooting Tiller. He also said he and Shannon applauded others who had been involved in abortion-related violence.

"And these individuals were people you might have counted among your friends?" Foulston asked.

"Yes," Roeder replied.

On February 2, Shannon issued a statement from prison.

In her e-mail, Shannon said the judge had been influenced by media and abortion rights activists who said that if Roeder had been allowed to use that defense more abortion doctors would be killed.

"Abortionists are killed because they are serial murderers of innocent children who must be stopped, and they will continue to be stopped, even though Scott didn't get a fair trial," she wrote. "May God bless Scott for his faithfulness and brave actions and stand."
. . .
FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton said Shannon's e-mail was not specific enough to require investigation.

We remember nutbar Shelley Shannon, don't we? She was going to contribute her prison cookbook for the aborted (snerk) fundraiser for Roeder's legal costs.

And speaking of legal matters, Roeder's lawyers yesterday signalled their intent to ask for a new trial or order of acquital.

Among other reasons, they cite a decision by the judge at Roeder's trial last month to not allow jurors to consider a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Apparently, such moves are routine, but the lawyers might wish they'd checked on what one of their client's good friends was up to yesterday.

Army of God associate and good buddy of Roeder's, Dave Leach, posted a YouTubed interview with Roeder.

As he awaits sentencing for first-degree murder, Scott Roeder said in an interview released Monday that he has little sympathy for Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller’s family.

“The fact that George Tiller was involved in the practice that he was, similar to that of a hit man, if you could have sympathy for a hit man’s family, that is the sympathy I would have,” Roeder told anti-abortion activist Dave Leach in interviews recorded last week from jail. “If they would have talked the man into stopping his practice many years ago, this would not have had to happen.”

Leach intends to post a series of such interviews.

But this may not be such a shit-hot good idea.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, said Roeder’s statements could be used against him at his sentencing.

“Typically, in this kind of case, the defendant would want to do everything he or she could do to avoid a stiff sentence,” Tobias said. “So what lawyers tend to advise their clients — and clients usually follow their advice — is to say nothing, just because of the concern about prejudicing the sentencing.”

However, he added: “There hasn’t been very much that’s been normal about this case.”

I ask you -- could Scott Roeder be a more perfect patsy for the fetus fetishists?

Roeder Verdict

I've already said that I've been a bad blogger lately. So, catching up.

The Roeder verdict.

To no one's surprise, he was found guilty. What has been commented on is the speed.

The jury took just 37 minutes to convict born-again Christian Scott Roeder for shooting George Tiller, 67, in the forehead as he attended church last May. Roeder, a 51-year-old airport shuttle driver, faces a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

While there was some alarm when the -- as it turns out, very conscientious -- judge allowed the defendant to offer his 'justification' for the assassination, after Roeder's testimony the judge nixed that.

"It would be hard for a reasonable fact-finder to find anything other than the defendant formulating his belief and then planning on multiple occasions ... to carry out his intention to [kill] Dr Tiller," the judge said. Roeder did not deny it.

One wonders why Roeder didn't go for the mad as a hatter defence.

He told the court that he had made up his mind 17 years ago to kill Tiller, who was one of only three doctors in the US to carry out abortions late in a pregnancy.

Roeder said he considered hiding on a roof looking down on Tiller's clinic in Wichita to shoot him with a sniper rifle, or smashing his car into the abortion doctor's vehicle and chopping Tiller's hands off with a sword. But Roeder said he abandoned the latter idea because Tiller would still be able to teach others how to carry out abortions. In the end, Roeder walked up to Tiller at the doctor's Lutheran church and shot him in the head.

Now, about whether the anti-choice forces should wear this. Interestingly:

Roeder's lawyer told the jury how his client had grown increasingly frustrated over the years by the continued operation of Tiller abortion clinic despite a vigorous campaign against it by anti-abortionists. The clinic was bombed in 1986 and the focus of a mass blockade five years later.

So. The anti-choicers make big (fund-raising) claims about shutting Dr Tiller down. They don't. Some nutbar gets 'frustrated'. And assassination ensues.

This murder is definitely on them. And Bill Fucking O'Reilly too, of course.

And, today, a jury member speaks.

Abortion?

"It was never spoken of," said the 54-year-old, whose first service as a juror came in a trial that drew reporters and activists on both sides of the abortion issue from coast to coast.

He said the jury discussed only the question of whether Roeder was guilty of first-degree murder for shooting Tiller while Tiller served as an usher in his Wichita church, and whether Roeder was guilty of aggravated assault for pointing a handgun at two people who tried to block his escape.

Because of security concerns, the juror asked that his name not be used. He said he didn't want to take any chances that someone might lash out against him.

The guilty verdict was unanimous from the beginning of the deliberations, he said.

"There wasn't much to argue about."

They found the evidence against Roeder "overwhelming."

That's why it took only 37 minutes to decide, he said.

Then there's this rather chilling -- but really not surprising -- news.

For security during the trial, he said, jurors were picked up at an undisclosed location. Officers carefully checked vehicles used to transport them, passing mirrors underneath.

The measures reassured him.

"We never felt like we were in any danger."

He said he wanted to give "a big thank you" to Sedgwick County sheriff's officers and to District Judge Warren Wilbert, who presided over the trial.

"He was very passionate about our safety," the juror said of Wilbert. "He went to great lengths" to protect the jurors' identities.

So, it is mostly over. The anti-abortion terrorists and enablers did not get the circus they hoped for.

Justice was done and swiftly.

Next, the sentencing. In Kansas, first degree murder merits a life sentence, usually with no chance of parole for 25 years. But there is another option -- something called 'Hard 50'. No chance of parole for 50 years. There's much speculation on whether the prosecution is going for it.

I'm hoping so. Roeder is in his 50s. Hard 50 would about do it for me.

Get your anti-abortion terrorism fetishes here!

There's one word for this: surreal.

An Army of God manual. A prison cookbook compiled by a woman doing time for abortion clinic bombings and arsons. An autographed bullhorn.

These are among the items that abortion foes plan to auction on eBay and other Web sites in a fundraiser for Scott Roeder, the Kansas City man charged with killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller.

“This is unique,” said Regina Dinwiddie, a Kansas City anti-abortion activist who will sign the bullhorn. “Nobody’s ever done this before. The goal is that everybody makes money for Scott Roeder’s defense.”

One abortion-rights leader called the auction deplorable and said it could lead to more violence.

“The network of extremists promoting and defending the murder of doctors is contributing to escalating threats against clinics and doctors across the country,” said Kathy Spillar, executive vice president of the Feminist Majority Foundation.

These twisted fetishes represent a veritable Who's Who of the anti-abortion terrorists who enabled the assassination of Dr George Tiller.

The Army of God manual is a handbook on tactics to shut women's clinics down, including bomb recipes, donated by Dave Leach, who reprinted the 'underground' manual in 1996.

The prison cookbook's author is Shelly Shannon, in prison until at least 2018, for shooting Dr. Tiller in both arms in 1993.

And there will be other items associated with other 'heros' of the anti-abortion terrorism gang.

Dinwiddie is a friend of Roeder. She also was a friend of Paul Hill, who shot an abortion doctor and his escort to death in Pensacola, Fla., in 1994. Hill received a death sentence for the killings and was executed in 2003.

“Regina is digging out her old VHS tapes of Paul Hill in her home praying before Shelley’s trial,” Leach said. “She wants to start that one off at $500.”

The bullhorn autographed by Dinwiddie is similar to those she used when protesting outside abortion clinics.

The money raised will go to Roeder's defense. Roeder is pretty thrilled about it, having been thrown under the bus by another prominent gang of terrorists, Operation Scumbag Rescue.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “I appreciate all of the efforts going into that. I’m all for anything that might bring some donations in.”

I have some thoughts about other items that might fetch a few dineros from the demented.

How about some fake anthrax letters identified by the FBI as coming from Army of God members?

Maybe some good old-timey 'Wanted' posters featuring abortion-providers?

And, to go with that bullhorn, a blood-stained autographed copy of this:



written by the cheerleader-in-chief for Dr Tiller's assassination.

Putrid People

JJ has a vid of Olbermann on the latest idiocy from the Tea-Baggers and the Values Voters.

At that Values Voters (ptui) summit, Billo, aka George-Tiller-Assassination-Enabler, was given what JJ calls 'some bullshit "Media Courage" award'. For the first time evah, apparently. Way to en'courage' future assassination-enablers, VV.

But in his acceptance speech, Billo wasn't done villifying the successfully assassinated Dr Tiller. Have a look.



So, what was the heckler saying? Have another look.



These people are simply putrid.

Push-Back Continued

I'm liking Dr LeRoy Carhart more the more I learn about him.

He's not taking Operation Re-Skew's crap lying down. Far from it.

Adding to this weekend's humiliation of the anti-abortion terrorist-enablers, Dr Carhart invited a local tv station to tour his clinic.

The anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue claims four past employees at the clinic say his staff is unqualified and the clinic has unclean conditions. "We've already identified several things that this clinic is violating state statues and we're going to be meeting with the attorney general to close this abortion clinic down once and for all," said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue.

Carhart calls the claims outright lies. He shows us where tools are sterolized, the ultra-sound room, and pharmacy that's under lock and key.

Since the murder of his friend and abortion doctor, Dr. George Tiller; he's even more aware of the danger that comes with his job. "I think about security a lot more than the average person," said Bellevue Abortion Clinic Dr. LeRoy Carhart. But he says that will never stop him from fighting for what he feels is right. Performing late-term abortions for woman he says face gut-wrenching circumstances. "We're not going to allow them to deny us our choice," Carhart said.

(I expect those tools are sterilized, too.)

You go, Dr Carhart.