Abortion doctor shot, killed during church service in Kansas

emzie

emzie

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A prominent US abortion doctor has been shot dead at a church in Wichita, in his home state of Kansas.

Sixty-seven year-old George Tiller was killed just after 1000 (1500 GMT) at the Reformation Lutheran Church.

...

Dr Tiller's lawyer, Dan Monnat, said he was gunned down as he served as an usher during a morning service.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8076253.stm

That sure showed him murder is wrong.
 
What do you want to bet it isn't classified as being "domestic terrorism"?
 
So, what are the chances that the shooter will also be put to death? By the state no less..
 
Protesters blockaded Tiller's clinic during Operation Rescue's "Summer of Mercy" protests during the summer of 1991, and Tiller was shot by Rachelle Shannon at his clinic in 1993. Tiller was wounded in both arms, and Shannon remains in prison for the shooting.

The clinic was bombed in June 1986, and was severely vandalized earlier this month. According to the Associated Press, his lawyer said wires to security cameras and outdoor lights were cut and that the vandals also cut through the roof and plugged the buildings' downspouts. Rain poured through the roof and caused thousands of dollars of damage in the clinic. Tiller reportedly asked the FBI to investigate the incident.

No arrests were made in the 1986 bombing.
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http://www.kansas.com/news/breaking/story/833730.html

He was a bit of an attracting element.
Though what is it with terrorists and killing others while they're at church?
 
This has uncomfortable political implications, as the doctor had ties to Kathleen Sebelius. Also, this wasn't the first time someone tried to murder him. It happened in 1993 to.

CCRunner said:
Why should it be? It's a murder, not a terrorist act :confused:

sorry, didn't read the article
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Because it's politically motivated, and motivated not as an attempt to attack a person but a symbol. Classic terrorism.
 
I'd say the message they are trying to send is quite clear. Abort a fetus and we will kill you, even in church. That is terrorism.

So let's see the authorities use all aspects of the federal government, including domestic wiretaps and surveillance of all internet accesses without any court warrants, to put them in a Gitmo-style detention facility for the rest of their lives without even a trial or right to habeas corpus.

El_Machinae said:
Just remember, fanatics like these are rarer (percentage-wise) than violent schizophrenics.
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The difference would be that violent schizophrenics don't typically band together to accomplish their goals and have weekly prayer meetings.
 
Formaldehyde said:
I'd say the message they are trying to send is quite clear. Abort a fetus and we will kill you, even in church. That is terrorism. So let's see the authorities use all aspects of the federal government to put them in a Gitmo-type 'detention facility' for the rest of their lives without even a trial.
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There was no 'they' or 'we' that I saw. All I saw was one misguided murderer...
 
El_Machinae said:
Just remember, fanatics like these are rarer (percentage-wise) than violent schizophrenics.
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It's hard to produce numbers. Schizophrenia is a mental disease, believing that abortion doctors should be shot is a political belief. So all we have the numbers on are the people who actually do murder people, not the ones who potentially would.

CCRunner said:
There was no 'they' or 'we' that I saw. All I saw was one misguided murderer...
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Let's be clear here, the murder investigation has just begun, and we haven't uncovered any links as of yet. So we move into the realm of speculation. With that said, all the statistics we have available suggest that there are groups of people willing to use violence to impose their beliefs about abortion, and that most or all attacks on people are the result of group planning. Without any evidence either way, we should presume that this is a "typical" crime, and as such, we should presume that the murderer had a support group. Unless you have evidence to suggest otherwise of course.
 
CCRunner said:
There was no 'they' or 'we' that I saw. All I saw was one misguided murderer...
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One "misguided murderer" who previously bombed his clinic, shot him in both arms, and who recently vandalized his clinic. Right...

http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/history_violence.html

Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal, there has been an organized campaign by anti-abortion extremists which has resulted in escalating levels of violence against women's health care providers. In an attempt to stop abortion, anti-abortion extremists have chosen to take the law into their own hands.

What began as peaceful protests with picketing moved to harassing clinic staff and patients as they entered clinics and eventually escalated to blockading clinic entrances.

This foundation of harassment led to violence with the first reported clinic arson in 1976 and a series of bombings in 1978. Arsons and bombings have continued until this day. Anti-abortion extremists have also used chemicals to block women's access to abortion employing butyric acid to vandalize clinics and sending anthrax threat letters to frighten clinic staff.

In the early 1990s, anti-abortion extremists concluded that murdering providers was the only way to stop abortion. The first provider was murdered in 1993. Since then, there have been six subsequent murders and numerous attempted murders of clinic staff and physicians, several of which occurred in their own homes.


Extreme Violence

The following are incidents that were reported to or obtained by NAF. Extreme violence has the potential to destroy clinics and harm the lives of clinic staff.

http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/history_extreme.asp

Murders and Shootings

Anti-abortion extremists perpetrated an unprecedented level of violence in 1993 with the first murder of an abortion provider, Dr. David Gunn. Since that time, anti-abortion extremists have murdered or attempted to murder others involved in reproductive health care.

http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/murders.asp

Arsons and Bombings

Arsons and bombings at clinics can cause widespread destruction. Over two hundred of these crimes have been committed against reproductive health care clinics since the mid-1970s.

http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/arsons.asp

Butyric Acid Attacks

Butyric acid is a clear, colorless liquid with an unpleasant, rancid, vomit-like odor. Anti-abortion extremists began using butyric acid as a weapon against abortion facilities in early 1991. Butyric acid disrupts services, closes clinics for clean-up, and harasses patients and staff.

http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/butyric_acid.asp

Anthrax Threats

From 1998 through 2002 letters threatening to contain anthrax were used as a tool to intimidate clinics. Over 650 letters have been received, causing clinics to be closed and staff to be subjected to decontamination procedures and placed on unnecessary medications. None of the letters ultimately contained real anthrax. Clayton Waagner was convicted of sending 554 of the letters, but no arrests have been made in the remaining 100 cases.

http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/anthrax.html
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If he did have a support group, perhaps a secret executive order labeling the group as enemy combatants is in order. Then we can detain them indefinitely until the war on terrorism is over. We also should detain those that gave them support (Aunt Mabel passed one of the potato salad at a church picnoc for instance). Baptism is obviously a form of waterboarding resistance training.
 
Not just enemy combatants: Illegal enemy combatants. Let's see how reactionary fundamentalist America feels about the Patriot Act after they have been labeled as being yet another terrorist group who openly fund and support terrorist activites with bake sales and prayer meetings. Too bad we can no longer waterboard them to divulge other members of their cells.
 
Miles Teg said:
It's hard to produce numbers. Schizophrenia is a mental disease, believing that abortion doctors should be shot is a political belief. So all we have the numbers on are the people who actually do murder people, not the ones who potentially would.
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I think that, for all practical purposes, killing an abortion doctor is somewhat easy. The truth is that people who're actually willing to kill abortion doctors are incredibly rare, rarer than violent schizophrenics (which is a subset of schizophrenics). Maybe people who're okay with it (their 'enablers') aren't rare, but the violent subset are seemingly rarer than hen's teeth.
 
There is no confirmation yet that the shooter is tied to pro-life groups.

It could be entirely random.
 
Are you guys actually sitting in a circle together?
 
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