Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

ANTIABORTION TERRORISM • 31people such as the Rev. David C. Trosch, a Roman Catholic priestwho was teaching his followers that the killing of abortion providerswas “justifiable homicide,” as well as Michael Bray, a formermember of the Army of God (AOG) who had served prison timefor bombing clinics in 1984, to determine whether the upsurge inantiabortion violence was due to a criminal conspiracy. Antiabortionviolence spread to Canada, where Dr. Garson Romalis, a doctor whoperformed abortions, was shot by a sniper in his home in Vancouver,British Columbia, on 8 November 1994. On 31 December 1994 JohnSalvi III attacked the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Brookline, Massachusetts,opening fire with a semiautomatic rifle. Because of theclinic’s security arrangements, no one was hurt, but Salvi proceededto the PreTerm Clinic, where he killed two attendants and injured fivepeople in the waiting room. Salvi was convicted of murder in 1996 butshortly afterward committed suicide. By the end of 1994, death threatsagainst abortion providers had occurred at 25 percent of the clinicsthroughout the United States; during 1995 threats continued and fiveclinics were burned in San Francisco in the period 15 February to 2March. Although the lethality of attacks was increasing, the total numbersof violent incidents had been falling since the FACE Act, with atotal of 3,429 acts in 1993, 1,987 in 1994, 1,815 in 1995, and fewerthan 400 in 1996 by September 23. By January 1996 the U.S. JusticeDepartment continued to search for a conspiracy but anonymous officialsstated that they had found no evidence of conspiracy so far.In 1997 the most serious antiabortion bombings yet were claimedin the name of the Army of God in Atlanta. On 16 January 1997 therewere two bombings at the Atlanta Northside Planning Services abortionclinic and another at the Otherside Lounge, a bar frequented bylesbians. The first bomb at the Northside clinic injured no one, butwhen police and firefighters arrived, a secondary bomb exploded thatinjured six people, including two FBI special agents and an agent ofthe Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). The intendedpurpose of the secondary bomb was to kill first responders. Thiswas the first time in 30 years that bombers used a secondary devicewith the intention of killing or maiming first responders. The bombsat the Northside clinic were made with 10 to 20 sticks of dynamiteand showed a sophistication not ordinarily seen from amateur bombmakers. Earlier in January 1997 two firebombings of clinics in Tulsaturned out to be the work of a juvenile.