Alleged Kansas Shooter Claims Anti-Abortion Homicide Justified

Date: August 9, 2009

Scott Roeder says he has been mailing out incendiary anti-abortion literature from his prison cell as he awaits trial for the murder of prominent Kansas doctor George Tiller. Roeder has pled not-guilty, yet in recent pamphlets, correspondence and interviews, he claimed that violence against abortion providers is justified. The alleged shooter has also implied that similar attacks are pending.

In 2007, Roeder compared Wichita physician George Tiller with the infamous Nazi Dr. Mengel and commended those who would "bring justice to Tiller and the closing of his death camp."

The ADL Plains States Office has been in contact with law enforcement to brief them on related extremist rhetoric and activity in the region.

Noting the cross-pollination between anti-abortion and anti-government views, the agency has also been tracking groups with whom Roeder has been linked, including the Freeman and the Patriot Movement. Further, ADL reached out to Bellevue police with security updates on potential threats against Dr. LeRoy Carhart, an abortion provider and colleague of Dr. Tiller.