SEPTEMBER 30, 14:43 EDT

Priest Attacks Ill. Abortion Clinic

By NICOLE ZIEGLER DIZON

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP)  A Catholic priest smashed his car into an abortion clinic Saturday morning, then chopped at the building with an ax until the owner fired two shotgun blasts to stop him, police said.

The clinic was not open and nobody was injured in the attack, which came just two days after federal approval of the abortion pill RU-486.

The man drove through a door at the Abortion Access Northern Illinois Women's Center around 8:15 a.m. He was swinging an ax when the clinic's owner fired a 12-gauge shotgun twice. He did not hit the man.

The Rev. John Earl, 32, was arrested and charged with burglary and felony criminal damage to property, said Deputy Police Chief Dominic Iasparro. Earl was being held in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Iasparro would not comment on statements Earl made to police about a possible motive.

Abortion providers usually are on alert for violence following abortion-related events in the news, such as this week's approval of RU-486 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said Vicki Saporta, executive director of the National Abortion Federation.

``We haven't received any specific threats, but anytime abortion is in the headlines we issue an alert to our clinics to take precautions because there is the potential for increased violence,'' she said.

The Rockford clinic is not one of the NAF's 360 member facilities, but ``it's just kind of common sense that clinics would be on alert,'' she said.

Earl did not reach the clinic offices with the ax, so damage was confined to the exterior overhead door he crashed through and woodwork in a hallway, Iasparro said.

The clinic houses the office of Dr. Richard Ragsdale.

Ragsdale said there have been vocal protests outside the clinic during the past four or five months, but he said he had not noticed Earl.

``I'm not surprised that something happened on the heels of the RU-486 announcement,'' he said. ``But this is a little more violent than we were expecting.''

Ragsdale said the clinic will open as scheduled Monday.

Ragsdale filed a landmark 1983 lawsuit challenging Illinois abortion restrictions, contending that they required doctors performing abortions to conduct their practices in buildings that in effect are hospitals. Under a settlement that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990, women fewer than 18 weeks pregnant may undergo abortions in clinics, while those beyond that term require full-service surgical facilities.

Rockford is located about 85 miles northwest of Chicago.

-- Holy hypocrites (HH@usa.com), September 30, 2000

Answers

"Holy Hypocrites", you mean Holy criminals, right?

Should a violent criminal be exempt from the full extent of the law because he is a priest, as opposed say, to a common street thug raming his car in a 7-11 for drug money?

IF this priest isn't put away in prison for many years and "reconditioned" to more social behavior, he's bound to contunue doing what he did. Same as the common street variety violent thug, no?

-- (smarty@wannabe.one), September 30, 2000.

The Antichrist has gained the upper hand over our religions.

-- (here@he.comes), October 01, 2000.

Rockford, Illinois? My guess is that he was just pissed because George ("Chickenman") didn't win Big Brother. (Is there something in the water around there?)

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), October 01, 2000.

Holy hypocrites,

Hypocrisy was my thought exactly.

Why aren't all of the liberal abortion supporters SCREAMING about the use of a GUN by the clinic owner? I thought that guns were these evil objects that only the police should have?

Well anti-gun forum members, where is your outcry?

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), October 02, 2000.

J, I don't think there are any completely anti-gun extreme liberals on this forum. I mean, are there such a thing in this country anyway? My understanding is that liberals are for gun-control, not outlawing all guns to civilians.

I don't think liberals are suicidal idiots willing to be attacked by ax toting extremist religious zealots. On the other hand, the owner of the clinic could have waved a bigger ax at the priest....

-- (smarty@wannabe.one), October 02, 2000.

smarty,

I don't think that "liberals are suicidal idiots" who are "willing to be attacked by ax toting extremist religious zealots", either.

I think that many of the anti-gun liberals are hypocrites who don't care if SOMEONE ELSE is attacked by an ax toting extremist, full of religious zeal or otherwise.

Have you ever heard of Carl Rowan?

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), October 02, 2000.

"I think that many of the anti-gun liberals are hypocrites who don't care if SOMEONE ELSE is attacked by an ax toting extremist, full of religious zeal or otherwise."

Oh I see. Because the liberals haven't come out and made a raucus with this gun-toting clinic owner? Well then, why haven't ANYONE made a raucus over this incident at all? I haven't heard the religious- right decrying loudly the use of violence from this priest. Am I supposed to think that the religious-right advocate the use of violence to get their way?

Help me here J, I'm confused.

"Have you ever heard of Carl Rowan?"

No I haven't.

-- (smarty@wannabe.one), October 02, 2000.

Smarty,

Personally, I tend to be of the religiously conservative bent, and may even have some empathy for the priest. However, I would have NO empathy for the priest AT ALL if he drove over some people, or chopped up some woman like Gary Singleton did. But he didn't, he attacked a BUILDING.

To me, this puts him into the category of pathetic nut-job, and not under the category of "violence". I don't think you'll hear an outcry from the "religious right", because I doubt that anyone but a zealot would associate this man's actions WITH the religious right.

Also, I had to laugh when I read J's post, I thought of posting the same thing myself about the owner defending his property with a shotgun. Could you see the headlines if some Crack (cocaine) dealer was defending his property and place of employment from some concerned citizen that wanted him out? The press would probably put a little different spin on things considering that the owner FIRED the shotgun TWICE! (Narrowly missing... etc.)

Personally, I wouldn't want either the nut-job OR Murder Inc. next door to me,

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), October 02, 2000.

because I doubt that anyone but a zealot would associate this man's actions WITH the religious right.

I am not a zealot; I oppose gun control: but in answer to your question, I do.

I hope this helps.

Best wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), October 02, 2000.

smarty,

It is the hypocrisy, not the lack of an outcry.

As Frank pointed out, this was targeted at property, not people. I don't hear the conservative right daily complaining about the evils of destruction of property, only to fall silent on this one. I do, however, continually hear the liberal left call for more gun control, but they are conspicuously silent on this particular use of a gun.

It is like the vegetarian with the leather belt. No consistency of principles.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), October 02, 2000.

I do, however, continually hear the liberal left call for more gun control, but they are conspicuously silent on this particular use of a gun.

I've never heard the liberal left call for gun control in incidents where people are defending themselves or their property. That doesn't mean they haven't done it, just that I haven't heard it. For example, I've read plenty of articles about storekeepers who shoot people who tried to rob their store and I never heard anything from the liberal left calling for gun control in those incidents either.

The only time I ever hear the liberal left calling for gun control is when some kid shoots up a school or a nutcase shoots up a McDonalds or a church or a daycare center. Then they come out of the woodwork. Still, I see this situation as more analagous to the aforementioned storekeeper than the guy shooting up a church.

-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), October 02, 2000.

J:

I'm as far left as, say, Jesse Jackson, and I spend a great deal of time on websites that make ME look right-wing. I'm curious also as to where you're hearing all this talk of gun confiscation. I DO know of a place that calls itself "School Shooting of the Day", but the sortof thing mentioned in the article above doesn't show up there.

Regarding gun stuff in general, I don't care how many you have, how often you use them, etc. I DO think it's a good idea for gun owners to have trigger-locks on their guns if they have children. I wouldn't go so far as to make that mandatory, but I'd suggest it be advisory.

Point me to these liberals. I implore you!

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), October 03, 2000.

Dennis you are a fine one to talk about consistent principles.

Go to bed before the DHS, ATF or some other secret government organization comes to take your weapons away.

-- Friendly Ghost (heain'tc@sper.com), October 03, 2000.

Z,

Really? I pulled this from USA Today this A.M.

New Jersey firefighters discover grenades, weapons and human skulls

October 3, 2000 Web posted at: 9:49 AM EDT (1349 GMT)

SPOTSWOOD, New Jersey (AP) -- Firefighters extinguishing a blaze at the home of a retired Spotswood, New Jersey, radiologist discovered a cache of rocket launchers, grenades, assault rifles and two human skulls, authorities said.

In addition, Nazi flags and more than 10,000 bullets also were allegedly found at Richard E. Schaefle's home.

Schaefle, 54, who earned a Bronze Star for his service in the Air Force in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968, was charged Monday with 10 counts of unlawful possession of illegal machine guns and jailed on $750,000 bail.

"Everywhere you stepped, you were stepping on either a weapon or ammunition," Spotswood Police Chief John Oliver said.

One of the skulls came from a hospital where Schaefle was a radiologist and another from an auction, assistant Middlesex County prosecutor Michael Weiss said.

Schaefle's attorney, A. Kenneth Weiner, said his client was just a collector and had fired only one -- a registered Colt .44 -- at a range twice.

"Police don't consider him a Rambo type," Weiner said. "But they feel he needs psychiatric help and I agree with that."

Saturday's fire was reported by a passing motorist and suppressed within 30 minutes. Schaefle escaped through a second-floor window.

The fire, which killed a dog and a cat, may have started in the kitchen, stocked exclusively with military rations. The cause was not yet known.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Do you feel that based on this article radiologists should be associated with gun-hoarding nuts?

Curious,

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), October 03, 2000.

Anita,

Dianne Feinstein, Charles Schumer, Rosie O'Donnel. Those are some of the ones that come to mind.

hmm,

When they call for more gun control, the net effect is to make it harder and harder for law abiding citizens, be it storekeeper or abortion clinic owner, to own firearms. Criminals don't obey laws, gun or otherwise.

Frank,

We gun-hoarding nuts definitely do NOT want to be associated with radiologists. : )

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), October 03, 2000.

"Do you feel that based on this article radiologists should be associated with gun-hoarding nuts?"

What does the man's job have to do with his religious and political mindset? It's the prevalent mindset and philosophies of the religious- right that we're discussing, not jobs.

-- (smarty@wannabe.one), October 03, 2000.

When they call for more gun control, the net effect is to make it harder and harder for law abiding citizens, be it storekeeper or abortion clinic owner, to own firearms. Criminals don't obey laws, gun or otherwise.

However, this has nothing to do with your original premise that the liberal left was conspicuously silent on this particular use of a gun as you mentioned earlier.

-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), October 03, 2000.

hmm,

Yes it does.

The anti-gun liberal left is continually calling for more gun control, except when one of their favorite causes, abortion, uses (GASP) a GUN. If they were consistent in their anti-gun rhetoric, we would hear over the airwaves and read in the newspapers how it is not the abortion clinic owner's job/duty/right to use a gun, as guns are for the police.

Contrast the current scenario with what we would be deluged with from the media right now if a leftist anti-gun peacenik drove his car into a gun shop, and the owner fired two shotgun blasts to get him to stop chopping up the place.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), October 03, 2000.

Smarty, you said,

What does the man's job have to do with his religious and political mindset? It's the prevalent mindset and philosophies of the religious- right that we're discussing, not jobs.

I disagree. I don't see anything in the article that says he attacked the clinic building based on his "religious-right" beliefs, for all we know he has a grudge against the particular style of brickwork.

It is *assumed* that he's targeting the clinic because of his job (priest), the fact that abortion is held repugnant by many priests, and for some unknown reason that he's part of the "religious right" because he attacked an abortion clinic!

What I was trying to point out was that even if someone DID proclaim themselves a member of the religious right, the odds of them being a criminal that takes an axe to a clinic are near zero. It to me is slanderous to say oh yeah, nut job, must be religious right.

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), October 03, 2000.

The anti-gun liberal left is continually calling for more gun control, except when one of their favorite causes, abortion, uses (GASP) a GUN. If they were consistent in their anti-gun rhetoric, we would hear over the airwaves and read in the newspapers how it is not the abortion clinic owner's job/duty/right to use a gun, as guns are for the police.

And yet, when shopkeepers and others use guns to defend themselves, we still hear nothing from the anti-gun liberal left. Are shopkeepers and people who use guns to defend themselves also "one of their favorite causes?"

-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), October 03, 2000.

>> The anti-gun liberal left... if they were consistent in their anti-gun rhetoric [would say] how it is not the abortion clinic owner's job/duty/right to use a gun, as guns are for the police. <<

You are hearing different rhetoric than I am. Can you actually find any of this rhetoric to post here? I would be curious to see some, so I could decide just how inconsistant it is.

However, I can most certainly tell you that I do not identify carrying a gun as the owner's duty or his job either, but I have never objected to identifying it as his right.

Further, I would say, that if the populace were effectively disarmed of guns, the police should be, too. If you knew any liberals, you'd realize we are no big fans of giving the police more power than the people. You might find some people who do want the police to have vast power, but the chances are they are middle-of-the-road types who have little or no political ideology.

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), October 03, 2000.

Hmm:

My guess is that J thinks that the press is controlled by liberals.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), October 03, 2000.

Anita,

NO! you have it backwards, the "liberals" control the press :-) .

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), October 04, 2000.

Smarty,

Carl Rowan, one of the country's foremost gun control advocates, supported the idea, "If you have a gun you should go to jail- period." One night, Rowan heard people trespassing on his property. He produced an unregistered .22 pistol, fired a warning shot in their direction, and hit one of them in the wrist. Rowan was not convicted or jailed for possessing a gun despite Washington DC's strict gun laws, or for firing it at a person who was committing, at worst, a misdemeanor.

Most states do not permit you to fire a gun at someone who is not threatening someone's life. While a burglar in your house is assumed by many states to be such a threat, a trespasser in your yard is not. Only in medieval times was the lord of the manor allowed to shoot or hang peasants for trespassing, poaching, and so on.

Carl Rowan, an affluent member of the liberal elite, apparently believes (like Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, whose power and influence enabled her to get a concealed pistol permit, and Senator Ted Kennedy, D-MA, whose bodyguard was detained but not prosecuted for bringing a machine pistol into the Capitol) that gun laws are for the little people, the peasants, the commoners- not for the royalty, the lords and ladies of the manor, the country-club liberal aristocrats, which is apparently their perception of themselves.

LINK

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), October 04, 2000.