Planned Parenthood shooting: Domestic terrorism? It’s knotty

The man accused in the shooting rampage at a Colorado women’s health care clinic that provides abortions, has made his first court appearance and learned that he will face first-degree murder charges in the deaths of three people killed in the standoff with police.

“Individuals considered to be domestic terrorists by federal law enforcement may be charged under nonterrorism statutes, making it hard to grasp from the public record exactly how extensive this threat is”, the report said.

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, echoed Cowart’s statement, saying there was an “incredible escalation of harassment and intimidation” over the past five years.

Barbara Mescher Michaux, an ex-wife to Dear, says he was very abusive while they were married, referencing one instance when he beat her head on a concrete floor.

Since 2001, 10 refugees have been arrested on terrorism charges in America while 320 citizens were arrested on the same charges, the study shows. Dear is accused of opening fire in the clinic Friday, killing three people and wounding eight others, authorities said. “It’s become quite a partisan issue”, said William Yeomans, who spent more than two decades in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Dear was arrested in May 2002 when a woman said he looked into her home and put her in fear for her life.

Iraq War veteran Ke’Arre Stewart, 29; mother-of-two Jennifer Markovsky, 36 and University of Colorado police officer Garrett Swasey, 44, were killed in the shooting.

“Politicians need to stop escalating the rhetoric against Planned Parenthood, and that means by and large the Republican Party, ” said Laura Chapin, a pro-abortion rights political communications consultant and former press secretary to former Colorado governor Bill Ritter (D). “You never knew. It was always nerve-racking because you never knew what he was going to be like”.

Citing unnamed law enforcement sources, several US media outlets said Dear made the “no more baby parts” comment to investigators after surrendering.

She also said she was confident he was specifically targeting Planned Parenthood on Friday.

The new Planned Parenthood facility offers a range of reproductive healthcare, including birth control and abortion services, testing for sexually transmitted disease as well as gynaecological and breast exams.