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Pro-lifers speak on Pouillon’s murder
I just got back from a press conference that several pro-life groups called outside the Department of Justice to discuss pro-life activist Jim Pouillon’s murder this morning. It’s a chilly, rainy day here in D.C. – maybe that’s reason that there were only half a dozen reporters and a couple television cameras.
Representatives spoke from Operation Rescue, Concerned Women for America, the National Clergy Council, and the Christian Defense Coalition and called on Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama to condemn the killing as they did when Dr. George Tiller was murdered.
It highlights a larger issue, Troy Newman of Operation Rescue said:
“There has been an uptick in the amount of death threats we have received. . . . there seems to be a stonewalling on the investigation.”
Despite the fact that no one is sure of the motive behind the killing, the pro-life advocates said they expected a statement from the Department of Justice or the White House at the very least condemning the murder of an innocent man while he was exercising his First Amendment rights.
back to top29 Comments to “Pro-lifers speak on Pouillon’s murder”
CRISIS! EMERGENCY!
We desperately need a new curriculum and extensive program for small school children (through high school too) to begin a noble daily crusade in public schools against brutality to pro-life people. Considering all the death threats and recent killings, we need special instructors and videos to require all school children to see, made by pro-life groups, to train them to be more sensitive to pro-lifers. We must make our children AWARE of the discrimination that pro-lifers face daily and outline who pro-lifers are and what they believe to help public school children become more kind to them and avoid bullying them!!!. We also need new hate-crime legislation to target those who target pro-lifers so that those who criticize and disturb pro-lifers can get extra tough punishments.
Wasn’t it Obama’s Chief of Staff (Rahm Emmanuel) who advised us all never to let a crisis go to waste???
_____________
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Joel, I have little hope that the things you suggest will come to fruition. baby killing is after all, the law of the land. We can hope and pray for divine intervention in the fight to save innocent unborn lives. By this I mean an overwhelming, nation wide, spirit of repentance such as came upon Niniva. The people of God MUST continue to preach rightiousness and repentance even in the face of overwhelming opposition and the seeming hopelessness of the cause.
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I gotta admit this seems a bit whacky.
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Oh, dear.
Way to jump the gun. They’re pushing this too hard, too fast. We don’t know the motive, I didn’t think. If this turns out to not be abortion related, they wind up looking like biased idiots. Be patient.
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The Flint Journal reports the shooting suspect was arraigned for double murder. The county prosecutor says the suspect had plans to kill a third man, a realtor, but was arrested before he could carry it out. The prosecutor said the suspect, Harlan J. Drake, 33, had “grudges” against all three men.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/09/owosso_shooting_suspect_identi.html
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EMILY — Would you have run out to cover a press conference about two people killed by a schizophrenic with a gun that he shouldn’t have had?
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That’s what I was afraid of. It’s looking like Mr. Pouillon’s pro-life views were not the motive. This press conference makes the pro-life movement look like they’re taking advantage of a tragedy for political gain and being paranoid.
Now, the opposition routinely uses these tactics, but you just know that these guys will get called on it far more than they ever have.
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I can’t believe this even made the news. They’re ululating over at DailyKos and lighting childproof sparklers.
Regardless of the motive, there’s one less domestic terrorist that Janet Napolitano needs to track. There’s one less unAmerican activist that Nancy Pelosi needs to smear. And those who drown children in bags of chemicals, which Obama voted for, can sleep a little sounder tonight.
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“There has been an uptick in the amount of death threats we have received” -Operation Rescue
This seems like an odd statement. A couple of months there was a denial that there was a “we”. Operation Rescue, we were told, was nothing more than a website that collected publicly available information. Now that they want to posture themselves as would-be victims, there is suddenly a “we” that is being persecuted.
Also, the whole press conference seems like a crass effort to divert public attention from Operation Rescue’s role in George Tiller’s murder.
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From the stories in Michigan, Pouillon comes across as some one who had been rather noticeable in his protests for years, including a very controversial protest at local car dealership. He was a community fixture, so to speak. The Detroit Free Press report gives a lot of details.
Given that this was a drive-by shooting, it doesn’t look as intensely motivated say as the Tiller murder; it may be more about the manner of Pouillon’s protest than the substance.
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They’re ululating over at DailyKos and lighting childproof sparklers.
Please, XION. Unlike Freepers the Muslim terrorists at DailyKos wait until they get the facts.
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Did anyone notice what else they charged Drake with?
“Unlawful intent”???? What about the murder? Murder just doesn’t muster the horror of illegality that it once did. Now they have to tack on gun violations, which the MSM never fails to miss a plug for the anti-gun lobby.
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It now looks like pro-lifers have their first known martyr, Jim Pouillon.
A prosecutor told the Detroit Free Press that “The defendant was offended by the manner of Mr. Puillon’s message.”
Awful.
That may constitute an ideologically-motivated murder of an anti-aborion protester.
Rachel Maddow, an MSNBC presenter who frequently covers pro-choice news, reports tonight that this would be the first known such murder, “a horrible turn.”
She reports that so far, the shooter is not known to have associations with the pro-choice movement.
The shooter’s grievances are not known in detail. Authorities do not believe that the two homicides are related. The other victim was the father of a former boss of the shooter. The shooter apparently had individual grievances with each victim and with a third man he intended to kill, but didn’t.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090911/NEWS06/90911020/1319/Man-arraigned-in-Owosso-slayings
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the pro-life advocates said they expected a statement from the Department of Justice or the White House at the very least condemning the murder of an innocent man while he was exercising his First Amendment rights.
Great idea.
The aCLU too.
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the NYT reports tonight: Prosecutors said that the suspect had singled out Mr. Pouillon because of the visible style of his regular protests at the school, but that they were uncertain whether the broader political message of the protests was at issue.
Nevertheless, Christians can become martyrs because of the manner in which they follow Christianity, not solely for the fact that they do follow Christianity.
The possibility that Mr. Pouillon provoked antipathy by his manner would not disqualify him from martyrdom. Christian martyrs in history have actively sought martyrdom, and are still eligible for recognition as martyrs because of the context of their deaths. Mr. Pouillon was shot down while protesting abortion by someone who objected to his manner. That makes him a martyr, killed over his manner, killed for his faith.
Does the martyr’s life become a source of inspiration? That’s a question for Christians who knew Mr. Pouillon.
But it’s likely that this martyrdom will obscure the long history of violence surrounding abortion rights.
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Interesting. So it was abortion related. Well then, they have the right to demand condemnation of the killing.
Scroop Moth: I pretty much agree with your posts, I think.
Incidentally, though, I consider abortion itself part of “the long history of violence surrounding abortion rights.”
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A couple of other useful items of information:
Owosso and the surrounding county is a rather conservative place — e.g. most schools in the county (including Owosso) did not show the President’s speech the other day. It is a long-standing Republican stronghold.
Mr Pouillon’s manner of protesting was certainly distinctive. As Sara Edwards, chief assistant prosecutor for Shiawassee County noted “He tended to carry big signs with very graphic pictures of fetuses.” (NYT).
I have not seen any news reports as to why Mr Pouillon had set himself up on the sidewalk outside the school, a choice that well, seems a bit eccentric.
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#17 Why is educating high school students about abortion eccentric? That’s exactly the age at which many young women turn to abortion, often because of pressure from their boyfriends and because they don’t want to have to tell their parents that they got pregnant. They’re young enough that they are prone to quick decisions, and a decision to have an abortion can haunt them for the rest of their lives.
It’s so much better for them to realize now that they’re discussing a baby, who deserves to be given a chance at life, not to be murdered. Otherwise, they will come to that realization too late to undo what has been done and many will regret it bitterly.
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God bless this faithful man, may he hear “well done.”
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Sounds to me like just another guy with a gun. Maybe, just maybe, one who was upset by being unwillingly exposed to graphic images, day in and day out.
As are millions of Christians. Who don’t even want graphic images in their own homes.
Of course, if your chief icon is a dead man hanging from a cross, you might be just a bit de-sensitized…
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#17 Why is educating high school students about abortion eccentric?
There’s a sensibility in what you wrote: this is the age in which young women begin to take responsibility for their bodies and their decisions. The question of abortion is a live one. So if you want to educate, to guide women, is a large graphic display on the edge of the school property the way to do that? That is, will it affect the women who in fact find themselves wrestling with the consequences of their sexual activity?
That is, can you scare or gross them out enough to prevent an abortion? The concern on my side — why it is eccentric — is that it may serve to harden hearts as much as open them. Certainly Right to Life has been taking a different, softer approach to reach young women (and one that is more effective, I believe).
(Statistically, in 2008 Shiawasee county recorded 101 abortions, with an estimated 19 being under age 19, a rate of approx 0.22 percent, half the rate of next door Genesse county, home of Flint. Owosso HS has about 520 women: statistically, one got an abortion. Numbers like this are what makes this overt demonstration so “eccentric.”)
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Harris,
I helped out at a Genocide Awareness Project (GAP -abortionno.org) at the local university this spring. There was a ring of large posters with images of abortion as well as developing babies at 10-12 weeks post-conception.
A young woman came up and spent a number of minutes staring at the images and the captions. I engaged her in conversation and found out that she was 9 weeks pregnant and considering an abortion, since she didn’t know how she could be a single mother. I introduced her to a young woman volunteer who was a single mother. They talked for a long time, the volunteer gave her her phone number, offered to pass down baby clothes and connected her with local resources.
I heard that she came back the next day and said she would keep the baby. Praise God!
I don’t think that she would have realized her baby’s humanity – or the real horror of abortion – without those pictures.
By the way, during most of the long conversation, there were pro-abortion protestors circling our exhibit, yelling and swearing at us. Thankfully, GAP plans well and had an outer ring of steel bike racks around the exhibit that we stayed behind for the most part. It prevents violence against the volunteers and the exhibit.
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Beth — that is a very, very cool story. Thanks! it really goes far to explain your first comment, and why you might have read an initial skepticism in my post (and honestly, there was).
And speaking of perspective, I’ve been reading the situation in coaching in a high school: what would it be like to have such a figure as Mr Pouillion out front day by day?
This act of “witness” seems different, perhaps less engaging than the witness you were doing at the university. The witness in front of the school seems part of a more complicated argument, along the lines of “public schools teach choice” or “pro-abortion politicians support public schools, so public schools support abortion (and should be witnessed to)” or maybe even, “teacher unions support abortion, and so public schools must support or permit abortion” Like I say, a complicated argument, because it is not clear that the local school, Owosso HS, was the object of his concern. But honestly? This is a sort of hypothesis on my side — there’s a lot that is unknown.
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Arcadia, they are just pictures. If people are appalled by the pictures, then they should be appalled by the reality.
Please tell us why it is a hateful right wing bigot when a pro-life person is killed, but “just another man with a gun” when a pro-abortion is killed.
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This in, Sunday afternoon:
STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA ON THE SHOOTING OF JAMES POUILLON
“The shooting last week in Michigan was deplorable. Whichever side of a public debate you’re on, violence is never the right answer.”
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DailyKos:
While all murders are gruesome, tragic affairs, shooting a demonstrator on, of all days, the anniversary of 9-11 is especially painful for a nation that cherishes life and liberty . . . The victim, a retired autoworker named James Pouillon, was executed for lawfully exercising his Constitutional Right of Free Speech. He was killed for holding a sign of protest, the chilling implication is clear: wave the ‘wrong’ sign or say the ‘wrong’ thing, and you might be next. That’s terrorism, pure and simple, and this man’s grieving family and friends are every bit as deserving of our nation’s sympathy and condolences as the victims of Oklahoma City or the 911 attacks.
http://www.dailykos.com/
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What I find truly disturbing is how the right desperately wants this to be a political killing. Their desire to portray themselves as victims has them ghoulishly crossing their fingers hoping and praying that this was an assassination. Conservatives are chomping at the bit to be able to proclaim the other side has domestic terrorists too!
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But Kwatson, the other side does have domestic terrorists. Most of them earn very good money killing unborn children.
Blessings
Roger
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KWATSON – That train has left the station. It is a political killing, and we get to express condolances. So the best thing we can do is join together and say, “We’re sorry for your loss. He, and you, don’t deserve to be shot for presenting bloody pictures of killed fetuses.”
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