|
... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.
|
Another Isolated Incident
Quote:
On March 9, the day before the much-hyped Peter King hearings on the radicalization of Muslims in America began in Washington, D.C., federal agents in Washington state arrested an apparent neo-Nazi on charges of planting a bomb on the route of a Martin Luther King Day parade. Two days later, five members of a"sovereign citizen" militia in Alaska were arrested for plotting to murder State Troopers and a federal judge.
Compared to the political theater of the King hearings, these busts of accused right-wing domestic terrorists received scant media attention. Even less publicized was the arrest, also on March 9, of another accused right-wing extremist who allegedly firebombed a Planned Parenthood clinic and vandalized an Islamic center in Madera, California.
The case of Donny Eugene Mower further illustrates the narrow-mindedness of Rep. King and his conservative media cheerleaders for focusing on Muslim domestic terrorists to the exclusion of all other violent extremists, including white supremacists, militia members and anti-abortion radicals.
According to the federal criminal complaint against Mower, he admitted to throwing a Molotov cocktail through the window of the Planned Parenthood clinic in the middle of the night last September 2. No one was injured, but the damage was extensive.
Mower left a note at the scene: "Murder our children? We have a 'choice' too. Let's see if you can burn as well as your victims." The note was signed "ANB," short for American Nationalist Brotherhood. The same entity had claimed responsibility for menacing letters posted outside the Madera Islamic Center.
The first of those messages appeared last August 18: "No temple for the God of terrorism at Ground Zero. ANB." At the time Fox News and others were feverishly manufacturing outrage at the supposed "Ground Zero mosque" in New York City.
Two days later, according to investigators, Mower threw a brick at the Islamic center, causing minor damage, and then returned his focus to the Planned Parenthood clinic, posting another threat: "Murdering children? That is your choice? Reap your reward. ANB."
On August 24, another message appeared at the Islamic center: "Wake up America. The enemy is here. ANB."
The ideology of the ANB was detailed in a sign taped to the Madera Planned Parenthood clinic on August 30.
ANB is AMERICAN nationalist, not white nationalist, black nationalist, or any other racist motivated group. The signs posted, the things to come, and yes even the brick, are not hate motivated, but rather messages. The (sic) are the voices of us who refuse to allow America to continue to be torn down brick by brick. Notice also, that the mosque was not the only target of choice. We are here to revive American pride, which has been dampened by a lot of things: The rise of Islam in America, despite 9/11; the sickening number of murdered children since 1973, hidden behind the guise of "abortion" or "choice"; the abomination of homosexuality being rewarded, while those who chose (sic) natural relationships are bigots. These and so many more are (sic) the hate crimes, they hit America with a sucker punch... isn't it time that someone hit back?
Mower has "Peckerwood" tattooed across his back, apparently a reference to a white nationalist gang of the same name, though investigators said they don't believe he's a full-fledged member.
In the weeks after the clinic bombing, ANB messages were plastered on stop signs in and around Madera. They read, "Have we forgotten 9/11/01? They say we commit hate crimes, but we love this country. Which side will you be on?"
Mower has admitted to being the ANB's founder and sole member, the FBI reported. He's been charged with attacking a reproductive health clinic. Prosecutors are considering hate crime charges. A preliminary hearing is set for March 24.
It's not unusual for domestic terrorists who target abortion clinics or doctors to also express hatred toward non-whites, non-Christians and the GLBT community. Eric Rudolph, the most infamous abortion clinic bomber in U.S. history, also bombed a lesbian bar and was influenced by Christian Identity, a violently anti-Semitic and racist faith.
"It's an unfortunate trend, but time and again it's come to light that individuals who commit violence against clinics or abortion providers are either connected to hate groups or align themselves with a broader hateful agenda," says Deborah Ortiz, the Vice-President of Public Affairs at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, the largest group of Planned Parenthood affiliates in the country with 13 in Nevada and 29 in California, including the Madera clinic.
"It's alarming that [Mower] went after the Islamic center as well as the clinic, but it's not surprising," Ortiz says.
Ortiz is a former California state senator who authored the 2001 California FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinics and Church Entrances) Act, which created state criminal and civil penalties for interfering with a person's access to reproductive health clinics or places of worship.
The FACE Act came in response to the 1999 "Summer of Hate" in Sacramento, California, during which two white supremacist brothers murdered a gay couple and set fire to three Jewish synagogues and an abortion clinic.
Mower was apparently not the only right-wing extremist accused of plotting to bomb an abortion clinic while also threatening Islamic centers in the midst of the "Ground Zero mosque" hysteria last fall.
Concord, North Carolina resident Justin Carl Moose was arrested last September for planning to bomb an abortion clinic. He recently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Moose described himself on his Facebook page as the "Christian counterpart of Osama bin Laden."
"Extremist, Radical, Fundamentalist...? Yep!" he wrote. "Terrorist...? Well, I prefer the term 'freedom Fighter.''"
Moose advocated violence for a variety of causes. "If a mosque is built on ground zero, it will be removed, Oklahoma City style. Tim's not the only man out there that knows how to do it," Moose wrote in reference to Timothy McVeigh.
According to the FBI, Moose posted detailed instructions for making TATP, an acronym for the explosive used by terrorists in the 2005 London subway bombings. "There are few problems in life that can't be solved with the proper application of high explosives," he wrote.
Moose communicated with radical abortion opponents online and called for murdering abortion providers, investigators said.
He also championed violence in response to the passage of President Obama's health care reform bill last March.
"The Death Care Bill passed last night," he wrote. "Keep your phone and rifle close and wait."
UPDATE: A spokesperson from Planned Parenthood gave us this statement in response to a question about levels of threats and harassment.
Our internal tracking of security related incidents does show a notable uptick of incidents of harassing phone calls, e-mails, protesters and vandalism over the last couple of years.
|
UPDATE: Manufactured Violence: Pushing People Over the Edge | Media Matters for America
Here we're provided with further evidence that the United States' greatest terrorism threat doesn't come from Muslims, but rather the radical right-wing. Despite fervent claims from the right that this long, long line of domestic terrorists who happen to all be right-wingers are simply isolated incidents, crazy people the motivations of which can't be linked to political ideology, this man's motivations align all too perfectly with those present in the conservative media: the mosque at ground zero, abortion, homosexuality, and nationalism. In fact, this man's hateful rant could have appeared word for word on Glenn Beck. There can be no reasonable doubt that this man is a right-winger and there can be no doubt that this man's political beliefs, married with the political climate and his own emotional instabilities, were on course to result in bitter tragedy.
Moose, like the dozens if not hundreds in the last few decades, represents a clear and persistent danger and begs more than a few questions, imho:
Do you recognize the pattern of right-wing extremism?
What does this pattern in right-wing violence and potential violence mean to you?
Do you feel more in danger from radical Arab or Islamic terrorism or from right-wing terrorism?
What can legally be done to stem the tide of hatred without violating the Constitution?
Where are the moderate conservatives on this issue? Why aren't there, instead of apologists, prominent right wingers lambasting the media and GOP for fostering extremism? |