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| Man accused in Planned Parenthood shooting: 'I’m a warrior for the babies' | Man accused in Planned Parenthood shooting: 'I’m a warrior for the babies' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The man accused of killing three people in a shooting at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood blurted out in court on Wednesday: “I’m a warrior for the babies” and “I’m guilty. There’s no trial.” | |
| The outburst from Robert Lewis Dear, during a hearing for prosecutors to announce their charges, is sure to draw attention, as police and prosecutors had refrained from naming a motive behind the attack. | |
| Since the 27 November shooting, top Planned Parenthood executives and the group’s allies have asserted that the perpetrator was motivated by his opposition to abortion. NARAL Pro-Choice America, one of the largest abortion rights advocacy groups in the country, has called for the Department of Justice to investigate the attack as an act of terrorism. | Since the 27 November shooting, top Planned Parenthood executives and the group’s allies have asserted that the perpetrator was motivated by his opposition to abortion. NARAL Pro-Choice America, one of the largest abortion rights advocacy groups in the country, has called for the Department of Justice to investigate the attack as an act of terrorism. |
| Dear is reported to have told law enforcement officers at the scene of the crime, “No more baby parts,” an apparent reference to political attacks accusing Planned Parenthood of illegally selling fetal tissue. | Dear is reported to have told law enforcement officers at the scene of the crime, “No more baby parts,” an apparent reference to political attacks accusing Planned Parenthood of illegally selling fetal tissue. |
| “I won’t be at all surprised to find out that someone who is unstable can easily be motivated or manipulated by extreme rhetoric,” Dawn Laguens, the executive vice-president of Planned Parenthood, told the Guardian. | “I won’t be at all surprised to find out that someone who is unstable can easily be motivated or manipulated by extreme rhetoric,” Dawn Laguens, the executive vice-president of Planned Parenthood, told the Guardian. |
| Appearing on MSNBC last week, Cecile Richards, the Planned Parenthood president, said verbal attacks based on the videos “created the kind of climate that we are now seeing that leads to the harassment of doctors and violence at clinics”. | Appearing on MSNBC last week, Cecile Richards, the Planned Parenthood president, said verbal attacks based on the videos “created the kind of climate that we are now seeing that leads to the harassment of doctors and violence at clinics”. |
| The November shooting claimed the lives of a police officer, Garrett Swayze, who rushed to respond to the scene, and Ke’Arre Stewart and Jennifer Markovsky, who were accompanying friends to the clinics that day. | The November shooting claimed the lives of a police officer, Garrett Swayze, who rushed to respond to the scene, and Ke’Arre Stewart and Jennifer Markovsky, who were accompanying friends to the clinics that day. |
| At Wednesday’s hearing, prosecutors announced 179 different charges. Dear interrupted the proceedings several times to shout references to “the babies” and “the babies that were supposed to be aborted” on the day of the attack. | At Wednesday’s hearing, prosecutors announced 179 different charges. Dear interrupted the proceedings several times to shout references to “the babies” and “the babies that were supposed to be aborted” on the day of the attack. |
| Dear’s public defender has asked the court for a prompt investigation into “the depth of Mr Dear’s mental illness”. The judge in the case has issued a gag order for all parties. | |
| The assault on Colorado Springs marked the first time in more than two decades that an attack on an American abortion clinic has turned deadly. But the scale of threats against abortion providers has grown since anti-abortion activists released videos that claimed to show Planned Parenthood employees selling fetal body parts in violation of the law. The accusations in the tapes, released this summer, have been disproven. | The assault on Colorado Springs marked the first time in more than two decades that an attack on an American abortion clinic has turned deadly. But the scale of threats against abortion providers has grown since anti-abortion activists released videos that claimed to show Planned Parenthood employees selling fetal body parts in violation of the law. The accusations in the tapes, released this summer, have been disproven. |
| Still, in September, the FBI alerted police departments across the country to the heightened number of incidents against Planned Parenthood. | Still, in September, the FBI alerted police departments across the country to the heightened number of incidents against Planned Parenthood. |