Convicted anti-abortion terrorists Don Benny Anderson, and brothers Matthew Moore and Wayne Moore, were supposed to be released from jail and into a halfway house yesterday, September 11, 2007.
Don Benny Anderson was convicted in 1982 of kidnapping the owner of an abortion clinic and his wife in Illinois. The doctor was forced at gunpoint to make an audio recording urging then President Reagan to oppose abortion, even though Reagan already did. After 8 days in fearful captivity, the couple were released unharmed, but have remained relatively low profile since then. Anderson was scheduled to be released yesterday from Federal Prison into a halfway house near the clinic after spending 24 of his 30 year sentence in jail. The infamous Army of God claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
While the media is obsessed with foreign terrorists and the Petreaus report and the fear of Iraq, Iran, AlQuida, Osama Bin Laden, and other boogey-men, these three bonafide convicted terrorists will be walking the streets. But wait, these dudes are "White Christians", so never mind. The chilling details of their crimes are below the fold.
Anderson and the Moore brothers were also convicted of three arsons at abortion clinics. Anderson will initially be supervised, but is allegedly expected to continue anti-abortion activities after his release. Furthermore, on February 8, 2008, Anderson will be free from supervision and be allowed to travel.
The irony of their release date of 9/11 hasn't gone unnoticed.
Many clinics are concerned that these individuals could pose legitimate threats to abortion clinics and abortion clinic personnel, as they seem to have shown no remorse for their previous actions. Anderson is listed on the radical Prisoner for Christ website, along with other convicted anti-abortion terrorists.
Read the chilling accounts of 2 clinic workers who were employed by the kidnapped doctor as they describe their experiences here:
Readrock from a DailyKos Diary on Monday:
I still remember the call. My co-worker on the phone said "Sit down". I said I am sitting down. She said "Hector is missing". I said what do you mean Hector is missing? She said he had not come into work that morning and when they went to his house he was not there. The front door was open. The TV was on. A bowl of popcorn sat in front of the television. Hector and his wife were gone and increasingly it looked like the unthinkable had occurred. They had been kidnapped by The Army of God.
Allison Hile of Hope Clinic in Granite City, IL:
For eight days that August, Dr. Zevallos and his wife Jean were held at gunpoint, fearing for their lives - bound, blindfolded, and gagged, on the dirt floor of an abandoned WWII ammunitions bunker between Springfield and Decatur. They were fed ham sandwiches and a pot was placed in the bunker as a toilet. The kidnappers said God had spoken to them and suggested they use kidnapping to stop abortion. With a gun to his head, Dr. Zevallos was forced to make an audio tape urging President Reagan (who already did so) to oppose abortion.
On the last day, the kidnappers were harsher than they had been during the week. When they took Jean outside alone, Hector became concerned they were going to rape or hurt her. One of the younger ones admitted to the doctor he had been up all night praying as he had been told to kill them and he was trying to figure out how. Fortunately, the ringleader said God changed his mind and said to release them.
According to the National Abortion Federation:
The first public mention of the Army of God (AOG) is believed to have been when Don Benny Anderson used the AOG name in 1982 when he and Matthew and Wayne Moore kidnapped an Illinois abortion provider and his wife. The couple was later released unharmed and the trio were apprehended and convicted. Benny Anderson and the Moore brothers were also responsible for abortion clinic arsons.
Foe of Abortion Gets 30 Years in Abduction (New York Times), Feb. 11, 1983:
Mr. Anderson, 42 years old, from Pearland, Tex., was sentenced to 18 years for interfering with interstate commerce and 12 years for conspiring to do so., with sentences to run consecutively.
Abortion clinics have been notified by the authorities of these pending releases, but they haven't been confirmed.
So, Anderson and the Moore brothers are being released onto the streets and nobody is paying attention except maybe abortion clinics and abortion clinic staffs. I guess "Christian Terrorists" aren't worth worrying about.
But wait. How about McVeigh and Oklahoma?
But wait. How about Rudolph and the 1996 Olympic Bombing?
But wait. How about...
Cross-posted at HotFlashReport..
Update [2007-9-12 13:16:21 by annrose]: Note that abortion clinics across the country were alerted to this anticipated release yesterday by several national organizations who got this information from the authorities. We have been unable to independently confirm that Don Benny Anderson was actually released yesterday, but will continue to monitor the situation. Apparently the BOP website still shows that he's incarcerated and a very competent diarist Mary Julia has researched this further. See her comments below. Bottom line is that we're not sure about the whereabouts of the brothers, and clinics were told that Don Benny Anderson was being released to a halfway house yesterday. We'll continue to update as we get more information. If we can't believe our "guvment", who can we believe?
Update: Mary Julia has confirmed that Don Benny Anderson is out of Federal Prison. See her comments below. And thank you Mary Julia for following up on this.