A case of domestic terrorism?
WICHITA – George Tiller, the Wichita doctor who became a national lightning rod in the debate over abortion, was shot to death this morning as he walked into church services.
Tiller was shot just after 10 a.m. at Reformation Lutheran Church at 7601 E. 13th, where he was a member of the congregation. Witnesses and a police source confirmed Tiller was the victim.
No information has been released about whether a suspect is in custody….
Tiller has long been a focal point of protest by abortion opponents because his clinic, Women’s Health Care Services at 5701 E. Kellogg, is one of the few in the country where late-term abortions are performed.
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.
Tiller’s clinic 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.
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228 comments Add your comment
ByteMe
May 31st, 2009
1:01 pm
Some “Pro Life” folks seem to have a very flexible set of morals.
buddy larsen
May 31st, 2009
1:24 pm
True, ByteMe, but nowhere near as flexible as those of pro late-term abortion folks.
getalife
May 31st, 2009
1:33 pm
Another pro life murder.
Redneck Convert
May 31st, 2009
1:38 pm
Well, sounds like this Dr. realized the Error of His Ways and up and shot hisself out in public. I reckon they won’t let none of us rednecks on the jury if they arrest somebody, seeing as how it was in Kansas.
clyde
May 31st, 2009
1:42 pm
I guess pro life people shoot anyone that disagrees with them.Odd bunch.”I’m pro life”–Bang!!!
BDAtlanta
May 31st, 2009
1:46 pm
That’s mighty pro-life of them.
BDAtlanta
May 31st, 2009
1:47 pm
The harrowing truth remains unchanged from what it was before Cheney emerged from his bunker to set Washington atwitter. The Bush administration did not make us safer either before or after 9/11. Obama is not making us less safe. If there’s another terrorist attack, it will be because the mess the Bush administration ignored in Pakistan and Afghanistan spun beyond anyone’s control well before Americans could throw the bums out.
Frank Rich in today’s NYtimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/opinion/31rich.html?_r=1
@@
May 31st, 2009
1:47 pm
Tiller has botched many a late-term abortion, jay…..some resulting in death (Christin Gilbert).
Not sayin’ they were involved but DANG!!!
at least give Tiller the “credit” HE’s due.
A modest proposal
May 31st, 2009
1:47 pm
1. Find out what church the shooter attended, and have a horde of armed pro-choice activists attend each Sunday to monitor the political content of the service.
2. Use every power in the Patriot Act to harass anti-abortion radicals. Maybe some of them get aquitted, but I bet we could make sure a lot of them lose their houses raising the money to legally defend themselves.
3. Prosecute every anti-abortion group that hasn’t been 100% clear in their opposition to violence with being an accomplice, using the RICO statutes. If we can’t convict them, maybe we can also bankrupt them.
4. Speak with every anti-abortion person you know. Either they renounce this immediately, or you shun them for the rest of their lives.
gotalife
May 31st, 2009
1:56 pm
Let’s see… choose between a fully-formed baby that’s about to be born… or some ugly old guy who kills for money… yeah, I would say, I don’t give a s*** he got killed.
AmVet
May 31st, 2009
2:13 pm
gotalife, that you are obviously a repugnant piece of sh.. doesn’t matter at all.
It is interesting though, that like many of your Reich-wing brethren, who must be thrilled with this crime, you are so gutless you won’t even use a name you’ll stick by.
Big brave man you are.
Maybe an uncle? A white male 50-60, balding in middle, gray hair, white shirt, dark pants, 6′1″ 220, Powder blue 93 Ford Taurus, K-State vanity plate, tag “225 BAB”.
getalife
May 31st, 2009
2:13 pm
I am getalife and do not approve of gotalife’s message.
Ew.
RW-(the original)
May 31st, 2009
2:15 pm
A case of domestic terrorism?
I believe the term is supposed to be domestic man caused disaster, but it sounds more like a targeted assassination to me than terrorism.
getalife
May 31st, 2009
2:27 pm
Well, it bolsters Janet’s argument on RW extremists.
josef nix
May 31st, 2009
2:29 pm
Just hold on a minute–the lunatic fringe from both sides once again have drawn their all-or-nothing lines in the dirt. I don’t see an awful lot of “pro-life” people out there taking in and raising kids “saved” from abortions whose mamas can’t, and I don’t see an awful lot of “pro-choice” folks handing out birth control and preaching responsibility.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons for aborting a pregnancy. There are plenty of reasons for not. I’m a male and will ultimately never be faced with the decision. Best we leave this, ultimately, to the woman, her G-d, and the medical provider and the state, political haymakers and ideologues should stay out of it.
I’m no Caribou Barbie fan, but I respect the hell out of her and hers for practicing what they preach.
Michael H. Smith
May 31st, 2009
2:42 pm
Murder is murder, the unjust abrogation of life cannot be shielded from justice and should never be condoned. To some the prerogative of one man’s freedom fighter being to the other man a terrorist may seem justice enough served, though absent a trial, conviction and sentence of death given to a living individual before their execution, it is a case of murder in my humble Pro-Life opinion.
On that note of empathy, perhaps every pro-abortion person should shun and renounce taking life from the unborn that never live to get their day in court?
jt
May 31st, 2009
2:47 pm
The police-state that we live in THRIVES on these incidents.
Our differences only make the state stronger.
josef nix
May 31st, 2009
3:07 pm
jt..a voice of reason!
Michael H. Smith, while I may disagree with you, I respect the fact that you use your name.
ty webb
May 31st, 2009
3:07 pm
Domestic terrorism? No, sounds like murder to me.
Kamchak
May 31st, 2009
3:09 pm
…and I don’t see an awful lot of ‘pro-choice’ folk handing out birth control and preaching responsibility.”
Where exactly are “pro-choice folk” supposed do do these two things? School? Not in a red state–abstinence only is the only “choice” afforded to educators. Let’s see—where else do kids congregate? The mall? Yeah–a consortium of retailers is gonna risk the ire of parents. The movie theater? Ditto about irate parents. I know—let’s invite pro-choicers to the First Baptist Church of (fill in the blank) and let them distribute condoms there.
I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(
May 31st, 2009
3:22 pm
Well, he won’t be killing any more babies.
“We are shocked at this morning’s disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down,” said Troy Newman, Operation Rescue’s president. “Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning.”
Ditto.
Billy
May 31st, 2009
3:29 pm
Amen, Kamchak. We try and try to get comprehensive sex ed to kids. We try and try to make contraception more readily available to those who might want it. But, no, can’t be sullying the innocent kids’ minds with knowledge of sex!
It’s the right that impedes that sort of progress. Unfortunately, most of the pro-lifers are jackasses who support abstinence-only education and don’t want anyone giving kids any actual facts about sex. They evidently only care about the fetus, since they vote for people whose only concern for the child is getting it into the world and not for actually providing for its health once it’s here. You want to outlaw abortion? Try reducing the feeling many pregnant women have that they won’t be able to care for a child. Provide some support for women who make a mistake.
DB, Gwinnettian
May 31st, 2009
3:30 pm
Yes.
(This has been another edition of Simple Answers to Simple Questions.)
PS: And so were the Knoxville Unitarian Universalist murders.
PPS: Thanks, @@, for confirming that you’re ok with moral relativism. I always knew Andy was.
I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(
May 31st, 2009
3:34 pm
Question- What if the killer turns out to be the mother of a child who died while Tiller was butchering her baby?
Since you libs seem to have such a hard time dealing with simple, undeniable facts…….
DB, Gwinnettian
May 31st, 2009
3:40 pm
In case anyone’s forgotten, here’s the right-wing-radio inspired manifesto that accompanied the Knoxville UU terrorist.
I imagine this Wichita terrorist draws from similar sources.
Oh, and Andy–you know where you can shove your hypotheticals.
DB, Gwinnettian
May 31st, 2009
3:54 pm
One imagines that Neal Horsely is pleased with this development, and will be updating his website shortly.
DB, Gwinnettian
May 31st, 2009
3:57 pm
From Pandagon, which is a source of sanity at times like this–
Dr. Tiller was a brave man and a real hero. He was already shot once in 1993, but despite the ongoing threat of violence, he continued to work diligently to provide abortion services to women who are often in the worst possible situation, facing down the termination of a pregnancy that was being eagerly planned for, until things went terribly wrong. If a woman has a later term therapeutic abortion—be it because it was a wanted pregnancy, she has serious mental health issues, or she is a child victim of rape—it’s rarely easy on her mentally or physically. Dr. Tiller’s clinic was renowned for the thoughtful patient support to help women get through what is a very difficult time—counseling, support groups, religious services for the lost baby if you desire.
He didn’t have to do this. He didn’t have to put his life and his family’s life on the line every day to tend to women going through a little-understood trauma. He didn’t have to go through a sea of protesters who hate women so much they actually think that women are lying about their problems so they “get” to have later term abortions. He didn’t have to suffer through relentless legal abuse at the hands of fundamentalist misogynists who obtain political power by exploiting voter ignorance about abortion. He didn’t have to make himself the target for this murder to help women, but for whatever reason, he rose to this challenge, and that makes him a real hero.
Condolences to George Tiller’s family.
And that’s about all I can think to say at the moment. Later, all.
I rule Andy
May 31st, 2009
4:09 pm
Andy,
Well then she needs to die. Dead, like what her theoretical baby was after SHE went into the Dr’s clinic voluntarily, dead like Dr. Tiller was after she shot him because he gave her the abortion she asked for…
Any more stupid questions? Oh wait, they’re all stupid questions coming from you…
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
HavingMySay
May 31st, 2009
4:09 pm
I Rule You
/ You Whine 
May 31st, 2009
3:34 pm
Question- What if the killer turns out to be the mother of a child who died while Tiller was butchering her baby?
Since you libs seem to have such a hard time dealing with simple, undeniable facts…….
KEEP DREAMING…..THIS WAS THE WORK OF A PRO-LIFE NUT. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT AT CHURCH OF ALL PLACES.
I SAY – HAND OVER THE KILLER TO THE PRO-LIFE SUPPORTERS and LET’s SEE WHAT THEY DO WITH THE GUILTY PARTY.
I’m willing to bet they give him a gold medal and provide financial support for his legal obligations. That’s what those types of church going, christian like and children of god do when it comes to murder.
I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(
May 31st, 2009
4:14 pm
Aahhh, yes, the libs would very much like to kill the killer of the baby killer.
The piano wire posse rides hard!
eewwww
Mrs. Godzilla
May 31st, 2009
4:18 pm
So no the folks who cry out against “baby killers” and proudly “adult killers”.
Disgusting.
Support secular government.
I rule Andy
May 31st, 2009
4:22 pm
It’s the law, especially in Kansas. Some Libs own guns and believe in the death penalty. This was obviously premeditated, it’s a death penalty case. I’ll flip the switch, have a peanut butter sandwich and some warm milk and sleep like a babe in momma’s arms…
HaveMySay,
The Pro-Life nuts will have the killer if they actually catch him. There’s a pretty good chance he’ll be harbored and sheltered by some nutbag wingbutternut, maybe he’ll be a good conservative and flee to France like the last nutbag wingbutternut Dr killer.
Imagine that, wingbutternuts fleeing to france, and wingbutternuts having sex with mules, what a funny bunch you are….
ewwww and ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
I rule Andy
May 31st, 2009
4:28 pm
Hey wingbutternuts,
If you don’t like abortion, then work to change the laws. You’re too stupid to realize it, but you just blew it bigtime last November, not only did you get your a-ss-es handed to you, but you all handed the libtards a super majority.
The funniest part of it all is that all any of you can do about it is troll Jay Bookman’s blog and shake your fist at the world. Rather than admit you blew it by trying to slip the hillbilly from wasilly past the American public, you come here day after day and hour after hour and scream your hateful little insults and cut-n-paste your conservative RSS newfeeds and pat yourselves on the back for sticking it to the man…
Hilarious….
ewwwwwwww
Michael H. Smith
May 31st, 2009
4:31 pm
Ah why not, I like rocking the boat at times. For the record my position on abortion is pre- Roe v Wade, which means abortion is only acceptable under the conditions of rape, incest or threat to the life of the mother. In fact, something that will likely floor the liberals whom I’m frequently accused of abusing, I’d rather see adoption made easier for homosexuals than to have Roe v Wade stand and watch the destruction of innocent human life. In the best of worlds if we as people would act responsible there would be little need of abortions. Unfortunately, nature never gave human passions an eraser, instead nature gave humans a mind to avoid unintended consequences.
The government only becomes stronger when we are irresponsible as humans and citizens of this country.
I Obsess About Andy, Eewww
May 31st, 2009
4:33 pm
Just saying……..
AmVet
May 31st, 2009
4:34 pm
Crimes like this merely confirm what many of us already know – the far Reich-wingers are not remotely interested in justice. Or the rule of law. At least those laws they don’t feel they need to obey.
This church murdering didn’t take that long after the last one, did it? And I as I predicted after the one in Tennessee, there will be more.
Some tacitly advocate for maniacal murderers such as this man. Others, even more craven, hide behind excerpts, but fool no one.
To them, this is an exercise in twisted semantics and hypotheticals. And where they perhaps secretly rejoice at the results inflicted by this gutless coward.
Our system of laws provides for LEGAL abortions and the protection of those professionals who perform them. Yet the worst of these scumbags and christo-fascists cavalierly called THEM the murderers.
And if they had their way, the United States of America would again be a place where abortions were illegal, unsafe and sometimes fatal.
Just the way they liked it…
mike
May 31st, 2009
4:47 pm
Using the actions of this one nut case to smear all pro-lifers or conservatives is silly. That is like claiming that the actions of eco-terrorists are representative of all environmentalists.
josef nix
May 31st, 2009
4:47 pm
Kamchak and Billy–if you spent half as much time figuring out how to as you do kvetching about it, you’d see. I teach. I know what we’re up against there. Ever heard of biology? That’s where it starts and the earlier we introduce it the better. I teach fifth graders in an at risk enviroment. The science curriculum introduces sexual and asexual reproduction. My job is to teach them how reproduction takes place. There’s no need to mince words and two step. The Baptists? I’m not one myself, but I know plenty and you might be surprised how many of their youth ministers direct their flock to resources while still “preaching” abstinance as per the theological guidelines of their faith. Do they discuss this with the children’s parents? Of course they do. But you might also be surprised by how many of those parents are grateful to have a backup. Baptists practice birth control, too, you know. Where? Why not the mall? Put your money where your mouth is, set up a storefront…it has been done. The movie theatre? Put together a simple and straightforward announcement and get the theatre to show it. The pro-lifers should get the same equal access there. It’s called public service. Yeah, it takes time, effort, energy and resources and a will to fight, but it can be done. It’s not because the television networks aren’t willing (and required) it’s just that nobody’s doing it. There are a few here and there and that let’s you know it can be done. We just need more. And quit blaming the red states. If the blue states are better, then, pray tell why are the statistics so disturbingly uniform?
Back when my own little one was coming of age, i brought her in for “that talk.” ME: how do you get pregnant. SHE: it’s when sperm cell meets egg cell. ME: and how do you keep from getting pregnant? SHE: well, there’s condoms, the pill,,,” ME: I didn’t ask you your preferred method. I asked you how. SHE: You keep sperm cell and egg cell apart. ME: Right, now go on about your business. SHE: that’s it? ME: well, if we haven’t taught you the morality of it by now, it’s a little late to get started.
Her Mama took her to family planning where they have a good lecture just for girls her age. She’s married with two kids of her own now, both planned. I still don’t know what method she uses. I do know that she knew the biology and, she says, we provided her with a moral compass.
Mrs. Godzilla
May 31st, 2009
4:55 pm
We’ve had such a lovely weekend, and I come in and read this.
I have not read all of the comments above, I have outrage enough.
There are many people who strongly, loudly believe differently than one another. God bless them.
There are those who would bomb Olympic Park, blow up Federal Buildings,
bomb draft offices and women’s clinics, mail anthrax, torture or murder doctors in their house of worship. God damn them.
Pro Life and Pro Choice factions must both condemn this.
Kamchak
May 31st, 2009
5:10 pm
josef nix
I was baptized in a Baptist Church so please don’t presume to tell me about baptists. Planned parenthood has fought for years to be able to educate and distribute birth control only to be met with exactly the rhetoric Billy described I’m going out on a limb here and guessing “you ain’t from ’round here, are ya?” Else wise you wouldn’t have written such a naive statement about educating the youth about sex. You also presume that your experience with educating your “little one” equates with what others’ experience.
When school boards are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars defending a decision to add disclaimer stickers to high school text books concerning evolution, I must question their priorities. I am the only one in my family that is not a teacher or administrator and I know the party line on this issue and sex-ed–”ignore it and it will go away.”
josef nix
May 31st, 2009
5:16 pm
Michael H. Smith–thanks for the vote of confidence on homosexual adoptions. Back when my Better Half’s nephews were left orphaned and they came to live with us, we faced that issue. Now you red-state-stupid-backwoods South bashers, hold on to your chapeaux! We first went looking for a place to put them in school, that was before the paperwork started. The reception we were given in, ready for this, Coosa, Georgia was so warm, so respectful it blew us out of the water. We were looking for a place, we told them, where the community reflected our home values. Next came getting the proper papers and their social security. The lady in the SS office says to us when we told her we had a court hearing, “look, I’ll expedite this. We’ll get you a check at least by the first of December since them boys need a Christmas given what they’ve been through. Who’s the judge? Oh, that’s John Henry, I’ll call him.” She did and the papers were signed with no hold up. Of course they knew we were gay, but “you boys are doing the right thing trying to give them boys a home.” But, Kamchak and Company, the real shock came when the local Baptist minister came to invite us to be “a part of our church family.” We diplomatically informed him that that probably wasn’t such a good idea since we were gay. The answer, and believe me we were shocked, was “oh, couple’s night is Thursday.”
Now, do I think that any of these people necessarilly “approved” of our sexual orientation? L-rd, no. But they did believe in “you leave them boys alone. They’re doing the right thing.”
Oh, yes, and the girl? Well she was with us since birth. Her Mama was 18, fresh in from West Virginia, got pregnant, the man ran off and she was alone in the big city, friendless and wondering what to do. She didn’t want to have an abortion and she really didn’t want to give away her baby. My Better and I promised to do what we could to help. We, like the mama, had our problems with abortion as a means of birth control. We put our own lives on hold and A. grew up with two homes where she knew she was loved and wanted.
That’s why I hold the pro-lifers who spend their time yapping in no higher regard than the pro-choicers.
HG3
May 31st, 2009
5:18 pm
Let’s see…Criminal Law as taught in 1L — from the first week of class, if I remember correctly — Murder is “the unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought”.
I’d say that’s about right on the mark for the shooter in this case. He is now the problem of the State of Kansas.
josef nix
May 31st, 2009
5:33 pm
Kamchak…not only am I from aroun’ cheer, my ancestry on all four sides goes back to the colonial period, most of them getting here as early as the mid 1600s. I’m pyoh Southern!
And I don’t presuppose to tell you about Baptists. I’m just saying that there’s plenty of good ones, too, and just because you found reason to be an apostate is no reason to go tarring them all with the same narrow minded tar brush.
No, I don’t equate my own child rearing techniques with others’ experience. All I’m saying is that we do what we can where we can and, in so doing, we will find that we can be examples for others.
josef nix
May 31st, 2009
5:47 pm
Kamchak–don’t get me started on those stickers! I’d probably make YOU sound “conservative!” How often do you go to school board meetings to make your voice heard? If nothing else, it’s an evening’s entertainment. Won’t ever forget the night my Better Half, luckily sitting on the other side of the room, informed a member, “Madame, you have delusions of adequacy.” Seems she had her own kids in private school…
A modest proposal
May 31st, 2009
5:52 pm
Michael H. Smith, you are a terrorist sympathizer. I would be happy to see you lose your life savings attempting to defend yourself from a politically motivated RICO prosecution.
josef nix
May 31st, 2009
5:56 pm
A modest proposal–yeah, maybe, but he stood up for me when Obama and company keep telling me to wait citing their religious reasons for such. Kinda sad, isn’t it, when Mr. Smith is more progressive than Shabbatai Zvi Obama….
Kamchak
May 31st, 2009
5:58 pm
I don’t have to “go tarring them all with the same narrow minded tar brush”, most of the ones I know willingly jumped in the bucket of their own accord. Yes, as individuals they can be warm and hospitable, however, some of the worst politicking can be seen in any Baptist Church when there is a building committee and/or a pulpit committee. I have personally seen four congregations split over these two issues. Never have I seen a mob overcome by group think. This was the reason of my apostasy. Congratulations that you have found warm and friendly evangelicals who have accepted you.
A modest proposal
May 31st, 2009
5:59 pm
I rule Andy – the death penalty is NOWHERE NEAR enough.
First, he should be prosecuted from terrorism, not merely murder. That’s a federal death sentence, not a state one, which is important given the political power of terrorist sympathizer Phill Klein, who set up the rifle, placed Tiller in its sights, and starting drawing the attention of church murderers (err, I mean pro-lifers…).
Second, the 8th amendment provides against cruel and unusual punishment, which means our modern techniques are far too humane for this person.
Finally, they will probably stop the prosecution with one guy, the “lone assassin,” while terrorist groups like Operation Church Killers (err… Operation Rescue) remain free to walk the streets.
All of this “oh I hate abortion but I renounce this killing” b.s. are transparent lies. I don’t trust a single pro-lifer when they say this unless I’ve known them to be consistent about it for some time. Pro-life leaders and politicians make a profession of attempting to provoke political assassinations like this, and should be held accountable as accomplices to terrorism.
A modest proposal
May 31st, 2009
6:02 pm
josef nix – I have no idea what you are talking about. You sound like an idiot.
If you want to really insult Obama, though, don’t mess with making him sound Islamic. Just call him a “pro-lifer”.
Kamchak
May 31st, 2009
6:03 pm
“Madame, you have delusions of adequacy.”
LOL!!! Has that been trademarked? If not I shall steal it.