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| Robert Lewis Dear |
UPDATED: More information on the Planned Parenthood shooter is yet to be revealed, but the right wing outlet Redstate is already seeking to put distance between Robert Lewis Dear and right wing anti-abortion Christians. Even if that connection is not established, from what facts about Dear that are known, he is a testament as to why we need much more restrictive gun laws in America.
The far right in America, including self-prostituting Republican presidential candidates, is obsessed with Islamic terrorists, yet a shooting spree yesterday at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs underscores once again that Americans are more likely to be killed by domestic terrorists than by followers of Islam. Sadly, the FBI was caught off guard and was likely focused on Muslims rather than domestic extremists. The shooter, Robert Lewis Dear, age 59, was captured alive, and I - and I suspect many others - are waiting confirmation that Planned Parenthood was the target and that Dear is a Christian extremist. If this is confirmed, then it will confirm my repeated statements that far right Christians are dangerous. As The Daily Beast notes, this shooting is at least the fifth high-profile crime at a Planned Parenthood clinic since the release of doctored videos by abortion opponents in July. It certainly again confirms the desperate need for sane gun control laws in this country since Dear used an assault rifle in his attack. No one outside of the military and law enforcement needs an assault rifle for any legitimate reason. Here are highlights from the New York Times:
The far right in America, including self-prostituting Republican presidential candidates, is obsessed with Islamic terrorists, yet a shooting spree yesterday at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs underscores once again that Americans are more likely to be killed by domestic terrorists than by followers of Islam. Sadly, the FBI was caught off guard and was likely focused on Muslims rather than domestic extremists. The shooter, Robert Lewis Dear, age 59, was captured alive, and I - and I suspect many others - are waiting confirmation that Planned Parenthood was the target and that Dear is a Christian extremist. If this is confirmed, then it will confirm my repeated statements that far right Christians are dangerous. As The Daily Beast notes, this shooting is at least the fifth high-profile crime at a Planned Parenthood clinic since the release of doctored videos by abortion opponents in July. It certainly again confirms the desperate need for sane gun control laws in this country since Dear used an assault rifle in his attack. No one outside of the military and law enforcement needs an assault rifle for any legitimate reason. Here are highlights from the New York Times:
COLORADO SPRINGS — A gun battle erupted inside a Planned Parenthood center here on Friday when a man armed with an assault-style rifle opened fire and began shooting at officers as they rushed to the scene. The authorities reported that three people were killed, a police officer and two civilians, and nine were wounded before the suspect finally surrendered more than five hours after the first shots were fired.
A police official in Colorado Springs, who was not authorized to speak, identified the man in custody as Robert Lewis Dear, 59. No other information about him was available. The police did not describe the gunman’s motives.Lieutenant Buckley said the gunman had brought several suspicious items to the clinic, and investigators were trying to determine whether they were explosives.The shooting came at a time when Planned Parenthood has been criticized because of surreptitious videos made by anti-abortion groups of officials discussing using fetal organs for research. It transformed a shopping area near the clinic into chaos as snow fell and gunshots rang through the parking lot. Black-clad tactical officers stood guard with guns in hand, ambulances lined up and dozens of shoppers and employees were ordered to stay away from windows and lock their businesses’ doors.Despite being at a heightened state of alert, F.B.I. officials in Washington appeared caught off guard in the hours after the shooting and said that they knew little about what occurred.
Officials from both law enforcement and Planned Parenthood said they did not know whether the group’s Colorado Springs center had been specifically targeted. But the attack carried echoes of other violent assaults on abortion providers, and it prompted the police in New York City to deploy units to Planned Parenthood clinics in the city.
Since abortion became legal nationally, with the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973, many abortion clinics and staff members across the country have been subjected to harassment including death and bomb threats, and hundreds of acts of violence including arson, bombings and assaults and eight murders, according to figures compiled by the Naral Pro-Choice America Foundation.
Bryan Hawke, 35, a chiropractor who was holed up with six others in his one-story brick-fronted chiropractic office that is across the parking lot from Planned Parenthood, said the center is the scene of near-daily protests.
Meanwhile, some far right outlets are claiming that the entire event was part of a "leftist" conspiracy. These people are downright scary!!
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