LAW ENFORCEMENT READIES FOR ABORTION RALLY

The Buffalo News ^ | January 15, 2003 | Jerry Zremski and Vanessa Thomas

[Marianne]

Local, state and federal law enforcement will be ready to protect not only Buffalo's abortion clinic, but also local hospitals and gay bars, when anti-abortion radicals come to town next week to rally in support of admitted killer James C. Kopp.

Harold Litwin, chief of operations for the Buffalo Police Department, said Tuesday that protests - planned by individuals linked to the radical Army of God - may not be limited to the city's Womenservices Clinic.

"It's a real threat," Litwin said. "We know that members of Army of God have criminal records and there are some with some serious charges."

Litwin unveiled law enforcement's plans just as the rally prompted a backlash in the anti-abortion community. One group pulled out of next week's rally, claiming it had become "a referendum for the Army of God." And Operation Rescue criticized the rally as a distraction from the fight against abortion.

Both the law enforcement planning and backlash stem from an Internet message signed by the Army of God, an amorphous group that has been linked in the past to abortion clinic bombings.

"Forces are being deployed with the power to stop any child of God from being legally slaughtered in Buffalo, N.Y., on Jan. 22, 2003," the message said.

The message made law enforcement think that the rally for Kopp who acknowledged that he killed Amherst abortion provider Dr. Barnett A. Slepian in 1998 could turn violent.

As a result, Litwin said officers from his department, the Erie County Sheriff's Department and New York State Police will be present at Buffalo's Womenservices Clinic on the rally day.

Any location in the city that offers "reproductive procedures" may also be a target, he said, so forces also could be sent to such places as Children's Hospital and Planned Parenthood locations if necessary. Gay bars may also be targeted, he said.

About 100 people are expected to attend the rally. Many are associated with the Army of God, which Litwin called "the most extreme anti-abortionist group" he has come across. Police will videotape the protest.

Steve Wetzel, head of the pro-life group Missionaries to the Unborn, had been planning to attend the rally, but changed his mind.

"Sadly, it appears that what was to be a day of support for Kopp - who may be sacrificing himself for the unborn babies he has loved so dearly - has now been hijacked by those who seek their own agendas," Wetzel said. "The government will label any who do go to Buffalo now as members of the Army of God, or at the very least sympathizers."

[Marianne]

FYI

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[toenail]

[Marianne]

In a televised statement yesterday, Harold Litwin, chief of operations for the Buffalo Police Department, stated that the Army of God is also opposed to homosexuality.

[madprof98]

Bet this gets more coverage than the March for Life. In fact, I'll bet it's front-page news in the Times, together with the Dem candidates' visit to the NARAL banquet.

[Sungirl]

They have no 'rational'...they're all nutcases.

[Old Professer]

Any location in the city that offers "reproductive procedures" may also be a target, he said, so forces also could be sent to such places as Children's Hospital and Planned Parenthood locations if necessary. Gay bars may also be targeted, he said.

A sentence such as this needs a comment:

Reproductive procedures and gay bars, ain't that a hoot?!

[victim soul]

I suppose they are looking for Eric Rudolph accused for bombing both.

And of course as any liberal reporter knows any Christian who has the audacity to say that both abortion and homosexuality are sins against God are wackos and must be portrayed as being a part of this so-called Army of God.

[victim soul]

Well if the mainstream press want to play that game EWTN is showing 6 hours of the March for Life.

Maybe pro-lifers who can't make the march, can tape some highlights and give the tape to their network news channels because we sure as h____ know they won't cover it properly and we pro-lifers have stopped expecting any coverage.

It is a shame though that so many people at great sacrifice attend this event - some driving or riding buses for days back and forth -- and when they get home and ask those they left behind what the news said about the events - the answer is ONE BIG ZERO or a 30 second clip with a soundbite from the 10 pro-aborts holding signs outside the Supreme Court while hundreds of thousands religious of all faiths and young people and families go unnoticed and have no soundbite.

I suggest that pro-lifers who can't make the march should tape some highlights and give the tape to your local cable access which has a local channel that anyone in their community can use.

So let's tape the March ourselves and give it to our local cable access company to air.

There's more than one way to skin a cat and spread THE WORD.