Operation Rescue's Extreme Facebook Friends
Can you imagine how much greater the campaign scandal would have been if Bill Ayers, the former radical bomber who was linked to Barack Obama, and Obama were Facebook friends? That, no doubt, would have been considered evidence of a relationship, a sign of intimacy even. Of course, they weren't Facebook friends because that wasn't kind of relationship they had. But isn't it interesting that at least one leading anti-abortion activist who claims to be against the kind of violence that recently took the life of Dr. George Tiller is Facebook friends with some of the most virulently pro-violence anti-abortion crusaders that exist?
When PBS asked me to debate Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, I did a little research on him. I discovered his Facebook page and with it questions about those he consorts with, at least online, and consequently, questions about his sincerity. Newman has been in the news more than most anti-abortion leaders these days because his organization has been ensnared in the murder of Dr. Tiller, an abortion provider. Seven years ago, the group moved its headquarters to Wichita--to focus exclusively on protesting Tiller, his employees and his patients. In the days and weeks before the murder, alleged assassin Scott Roeder was in regular touch with Newman's second in command at Operation Rescue (who herself spent nearly two years in jail for conspiring to bomb an abortion clinic). A post-it note with her name and phone number was stuck to the dashboard of the Roeder's get-away car.
After the shooting, Operation Rescue was one of the first organizations out with a statement condemning and distancing itself from the act. The statement, released within a couple of hours after the murder, read,
"We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning... Operation Rescue has diligently and successfully worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see to it that abortionists around the nation are brought to justice. Without due process, there can be no justice."
Newman has continued to make strong statements against violence. Most recently, in our PBS online debate, Newman claimed the murder of Dr. Tiller, "was not justice, but vigilantism, which must be abhorred by a society that embraces the rule of law over anarchy."
But, it appears that Newman feels friendly enough towards the supporters of just such vigilantism to make them his Facebook friends. He may want to officially distance himself and his organization from violence against providers, but he doesn't want to go as far as to stop socially networking with individuals who endorse it. Of the twenty people that Wikipedia lists as most associated with the Army of God, described as "an extremist anti-abortion organization that sanctions the use of force to combat abortion in the United States," Newman is Facebook friends with three. (Keep in mind, of the other 17 listed, three are currently in jail for killing abortion providers, and one is incarcerated for attempted murder.)
Dan Holman is one such friend. Holman told CNN he 'cheered" when he learned of the murder of Dr. Tiller. Holman, of Missionaries to the Pre-born, has long supported violence against abortion providers. He wrote on the website Army of God, "Those who object to the use of force to protect pre-born children do no truly believe in their humanity and worth!" He continued,
"To condemn the use of force to protect unborn children is a tacit admission that their lives are not worth defending. It is to say that that some have more of a Right to Life than others. It is a frank admission that pre-born children are somehow sub-human. If they truly believe the life of the unborn is worth less than the life of the abortionist than why defend the babies at all?"
About Paul Hill, who murdered abortion provider Dr. John Bayard Britton and James H. Barrett, a volunteer clinic escort, Holman seemed to lament that there are no suicide bombers in the anti-abortion cause. He writes,
"Most of us are not as courageous as Paul Hill. There are no Christian suicide bombers blowing up abortion clinics. We need to confess and acknowledge our lack of love toward God and the pre-born. It is wrong to vilify the courageous acts of Paul Hill to put our own weakness and cowardice in a better light."
Another Facebook friend Newman shares status updates with is Neal Horsley. The Guardian UK interviewed Horsley after the murder of Dr. Tiller. Horsley states,
"The thing about Tiller's assassination that was really appropriate is that they killed him in church. While he was there collecting the money, counting the money, his blood poured in to those thick carpets in that church. That was a fitting send off."
Matthew Trewhella, the third of Newman's pro-violence-against-providers Facebook friends, is a signatory of the infamous letter supporting the murders of abortion providers and calling for all charges be dropped against Michael Griffin, the assassin of Dr. David Gunn. The letter read,
"We, the undersigned, declare the justice of taking all godly action necessary to defend innocent human life including the use of force. We proclaim that whatever force is legitimate to defend the life of a born child is legitimate to defend the life of an unborn child. We assert that if Michael Griffin did in fact kill David Gunn, his use of lethal force was justifiable provided it was carried out for the purpose of defending the lives of unborn children. Therefore, he ought to be acquitted of the charges against him."
Newman, if he wishes to be taken seriously as an anti-abortion leader who is opposed to violence should, as a first step, break all ties with the small band of anti-abortion figures who cheer on murderers. You don't need a PR genius to tell you that. As I suggest to him in the debate, "You, more than anyone are poised to help prevent future acts of violence by alienating and condemning these forces or by helping to try to rehabilitate these extremists. Otherwise, all the anti-violence talk is simply meaningless." Rather than take this simple step, Newman has offered to buy Tiller's clinic to run operations out of, just the kind of victory lap that will be celebrated by his violent friends.
My PBS online debate with Troy Newman is here. They ask you to vote on who won. Troy has got the anti-abortion blogs driving his supporters to the site to vote which, at the time of this posting, seems to be working in his favor. Even though the voting doesn't end until Thursday, he's already claiming victory. Please take a look at the debate and vote!
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American Taliban...
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I see some people commenting that they wouldn't want to be judged by their facebook friends, they have friends they don't even know & don't know how they got them. Don't give me that. FB is not a mysterious thing that just occurs, it takes your participation. You don't just "get" strangers as friends. Learn the app. De-friend people who you really are not even acquaintances with. And YES - it's totally fair to just the Op rescue guy on his friend list. He is in the public eye & should have more sense & discretion. Being stupid enough to use a casual & public forum like FB certainly deserves notice.
Christina
I hope you never hold me accountable for the opinions of my facebook "friendss."
Some of them, I don't even know to be quite honest. I'm not exactly sure how I ever ended up friends with them in the first place.
See Cristina Page's Profile
The difference is, Troy Newman knows who these guys are and what they stand for.
Note: all of the zealot maniacs are men. Can't someone give these pathetic excuses for men a model airplane kit or something? They need a more productive hobby; something tells me they feel unloved by the women in their lives and have abandonment issues.
I have some facebook friends that I disagree pretty strenuously with. I keep them as friends for the sake of communication, and in the hope that I might change their mind, through getting to know me. If someone actually advocates violence - isn't that inciting to violence or something, isn't that a crime? I would disengage from such a person. But maybe some of these people stayed within the line, then suddenly crossed the line.
Part of the thing is that it's impossible to police the Internet.
You can't police the internet, but you certainly can use it to carefully gather information from these organized extremist groups.....and use the RICO Act to prosecute them for crimes such as murder and terrorism.
There is talking with or debating these people. They are on fire with a zeal that shuts off all rational thought. The only thing that can be done with them is to isolate them into their own Taliban-like communities that have barbed wire boundaries and armed guards. I don't think they should be treated cruelly but they must be isolated from the rest of us.
Cristina: About 18 years ago or so I was a volunteer for Planned Parenthood in Lakewood CO. I offered to attend Operation Rescue meetings and learn what was going on there, and report back. The first one I attended was at a large Baptist Church in a Denver suburb. Large turn out. I sat near a few women who were each sitting with a husband/male partner. Being a friendly person I introduced myself - legitimately - to each woman. To a woman they stared straight ahead and did not respond to me. One man sitting to the right of the woman I talked with leaned toward me and gave me an angry glaring look - clearly meant to intimidate and stop me from talking with her.
When the meeting began - no surprise - completely run/controlled by MEN. I think the only woman who spoke came to the front of the church ot say she was glad she maintained the pregnancy and gave birth. I was also happy for her - after all, prochoice is pro ALL choices.
I attended a second meeting at a catholic church - while waiting I overheard conversations about late term abortion and women having their babies cut apart, limbs torn off, all on a WHIM! Lots of tsk tsk'ing. No understanding whatsoever about deformed, destroyed fetuses, women whose lives were in peril if pregnancies continued. It was all about the need to control women.
Thank you.
This is the case SO often.
Thank you for your post. Please write some letters to the editor!
Laser - I did - I even had a letter in Ms. Magazine with the same information. I thought, at age 57, that younger women would be taking up the work of speaking out on this but I don't see a lot of that happening.
This is an insane proposition to hold someone accountable for Facebook friends/fans/etc. Really, anything related to Facebook. It's just not that serious of a place. I hate the stories about school principals reading Facebook pages of their students, or employers, or whomever. It's all extremely creepy and lame. Leave my Facebook/Twitter/Myspace?etc. alone!
If you don't want people to read them, don't post on line. The web is public. If you want privacy, use a paper diary.
Huh? Are they like private?
What a bizarre post! YOU choose your friends on Facebook, as does anyone else who is a member. And why anyone would think that ANYTHING that you post on the internet is private is beyond me. Time to grow up.
Wow...you are VERY young.
There is something horribly wrong with all these men demanding how women should use their wombs.
Yes... it's almost always the men, isn't it? It is sickening.... and they are completely clueless.
Protect the rights of the Undead.
Being a man, and having no Uterus, what right do I have telling a woman what to do with her body?
Thank You.
I, too, find their terminology puzzling... the 'pre-born children'... 'un-born babies'... kind of an oxymoron. I like your spin on it (post-birthed humans are kinda 'undead' ;)
At last a REAL MAN, one who understands what this is all about. Thank you.
Exactly! When will these so called pro-life pro violence morons realise their activities actually lead to more abortions not less, they appear to be so consumed by their faith ( which I respect ) or they are being controlled by other forces with sinister intentions.
These women need support and empathy not threats and harassment.
I don't know that I would consider this a "balanced debate." Operation Rescue believes in using almost any tactic to end abortion, legal or illegal. That's pretty extreme on the Pro-Life side.
You writings are so reasonable, and your advocacy of "Common Ground" is so persuasive that you have swayed me almost completely over to the Pro-Choice side, well before I went to and read this debate!
I still have some qualms about late-term abortion, but reading both of your statements, you clearly won this debate, and I think I am beginning to understand its necessity.
But more than anything, I agree and 100% support your goal or reducing unwanted pregnancies.
Keep up the good work!
Please, share what you have learned with your friends. The more we can address the extremists, the better we will be as a society.
They are NOT Pro-Life! They are anti-choice!
Please, people, start distinguishing between the two!
P.S. Apart from that, I appreciated your post very much. Thank you.
We prefer to be called "Pro-Life" as you prefer to be called "Pro-Choice." Carrying on a respectful dialogue is one of the ways Cristina Page won me over. It's a lot easier to listen to and understand someone when they treat you with respect.
And I thank you for complimenting my post.
It is appropriate to acknowledge that Troy Newman is a terrorist. 'Operation Rescue' has a thorough history of violence and proponents of murder. The statements after the latest killing were very similar to the Taliban's in the wake of 9/11. Newman is even more exposed by his open association with Army of God terrorists. He should not have opportunity to buy Dr. Tiller's building. Hopefully, a new full-service clinic will open instead. Rev. Bookburn - Radio Volta
I heard on the news that Tiller's family is going to close the clinic down for good.
Unfortunately THEY won!!!
That news was reported last week.
Operation Rescue want to buy the clinic for use as their new HQ.
There's a simple question to ask those who advocate violence, especially the one who lamented the lack of suicide bombers:
So why haven't you done your duty and blown yourself up for your beliefs? If you truly think that it is justifiable, then why are you still alive?
Ah, it's all so easy to convince other people to do your dirty work.
Looks like Facebook can be used to do at least half the work establishing the "Who's Who" of their particular little terror cell.
For anyone stupid enough to believe that killing an abortion performing doctor is justified because it saves the lives of the "children" he/she would have aborted, does that also mean that if someone kills an anti-abortion murder/terrorist before he/she gets the chance to kill an abortion performing doctor, then that is justified too?
Fanned.
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