Abortion Clinic Manager Reveals He Warned FBI of Suspect

Abortion Clinic Manager Reveals He Warned FBI of Suspect in Murder of Dr. George Tiller, Says Killing Could Have Been Avoided

We speak to the manager of a Kansas City abortion clinic who says he twice told the FBI last week about the suspect in the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, including the day before the killing. The suspect, Scott Roeder, vandalized the Aid for Women clinic by locking its doors shut. Using the pseudonym “Jeff Pederson” to protect his identity, the clinic manager says Tiller’s death could have been avoided had the FBI acted on his warnings.

We begin with an explosive new update in the case of the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller who was fatally shot Sunday while attending services at his Wichita, Kansas church. New information indicates that Scott Roeder, the man arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with Dr. Tiller’s death, was seen vandalizing a Kansas City abortion clinic, Aid for Women, on two separate occasions last week, days before Tiller was murdered.

The manager of that clinic who calls himself “Jeff Peterson” to protect his identity says he called the FBI and local law enforcement both times, but the vandal, Scott Roeder, was not arrested.

The first incident occurred on Memorial Day weekend, and the second this past Saturday, May 30th. Peterson and other clinic staff recognized the vandal as ‘Scott’ from anti-abortion protests and gave the FBI his first name, his license plate number, and video footage of the incidents from a security camera at the clinic. Peterson told me that FBI agent Mark Colburn told him: “The Johnson County Prosecutor won’t do anything until the Grand Jury convenes.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/3/jeff

FBI knew who he was, his name, his address, his license plate.
:grr:

ETA: For DUers who can't stream, the transcript isn't up yet but it shouldn't be long. Amy did a long interview with the clinic manager who was in contact with the FBI, also with Dr. Susan Robinson who was a colleague of Dr. Tiller's, and also played a clip of a speech the doctor gave in 2008.

It was the county prosecutor who wouldn't do anything, according to the FBI.

Maybe the county prosecutor's affiliations with pro-life groups needs to be investigated?

Roeder was caught doing exactly that the day before the doctor was shot. :shrug:

I don't think so.

it is their job, then, to enforce these laws. as i understand it , that is.

a conviction but that they would talk to Roeder. They did go to Roeder's home and talk to him. The agent that was notified about the recent incidents was the same agent that handled the case in 2000.

Kinda like, 'I can't do anything about the man you and 10 others saw breaking into your house, sir, unless I personally see him doing it.'

in which case, they become fortune tellers of a future crime.

Well, maybe not. Succinct, anyway.

It would be interesting to know more about this agent Mark Colburn. Nothing meaningful coming up on the web for me so far.

instead of Hounding vegans and Peace Activists and people on Reservations we could have prevented all of the murders of pro-choice doctors/staff so far. x(

The political bias in the FBI protecting the right wing yahoos because they are right wing, and because they are white, has got to end. This is a premeditated murder based on a hyped up public campaign of threats and hatred. They need to get off their asses and do their damned jobs.

One more person is dead because they let it happen, and because they are deliberately twisting the whole judgment about who who is a terrorist to fit political guidelines so they can target harmless people. It lets them sit back and get paid for doing nice safe boring shit that has no risk associated with it and also does nobody any good.

Stop sitting in peace activist meetings eating cake and get out there to hunt down these fundy assholes with hateful agendas! :grr:

Get the damned militia separatists! Get the anti-choicers who are committing small crimes and working their way up.

I don't know how these assholes with badges live with themselves when they actively go along with targeting people they should be protecting and supporting. Their inactivity against the real threats protects and supports the real terrorists. It makes them complicit.

radical Islamic terrorists. What a fake he is.

thinking about Christian terrorists. :wow:

It's only surprising how quickly the talking heads jump to attention and how transparent they are with the misdirection.

Yet, it will be enough. Most people will transfer their rage to Muslims and Arabs, and anti-Muslim and Anti-Arab violence will probably increase for a week or so... :(

Under Clinton, a DOJ hotline was setup to report clinic violence. It was canceled under Bush. Obama needs to restore it.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/3/anti_abortion_movements

and deliver him to the FBI.

I share your anger about this.
I don't see what more the people at the clinic could have done.

the city would rather be sued by Dr. Tiller than by the anti-abortion people because Dr. Tiller would have to use his own money.

That pretty much defines injustice.

I wonder if the DOJ actually did anything with those calls or just used them for statistical purposes.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't surprise me if they just noted the calls and used them to document the rates of violence but didn't actually do anything. I'm becoming a cynic. But I'd love to be wrong.

You really gotta wonder about these FBI guys in particular. How much evidence does it take to propel these guys into enforcing the law? Considering that 9/11 was less than a decade ago, I can't help but wonder if these were these the very same whiz-kids who were too busy ignoring the warnings those pilot-school weirdos who were more interested in flying jet airliners than in either working on their takeoffs and landings. It's all TOO possible. If so, these guys now have more "laurels" to embellish their record of "vigilance."

:sarcasm:

:banghead:

the FBI is not interested in you.

In gluing those locks TWICE, he was committing a federal offense.

sadly, I just dont think this crime was going to be stopped. Law enforcement definitely dropped the ball though