Shelley Shannon: Difference between revisions
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[Anti-abortion violence]] |
* [[Anti-abortion violence]] |
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* [[Domestic terrorism in the United States]] |
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* [[Army of God]] |
* [[Army of God]] |
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* [[George Tiller]] |
* [[George Tiller]] |
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Revision as of 00:25, 13 November 2009
Rachelle Ranae "Shelley" Shannon (born 1956) is an anti-abortion activist, saboteur, rhetoritician and gunman from Grants Pass, Oregon. She shot Dr. George Tiller in both arms, outside his clinic in Wichita, Kansas,on August 19, 1993.[1][2][3] She is serving time in the FCI Waseca.[4] Her projected release date is November 7, 2018.
Attempted Murder of George Tiller
On August 19, 1993, Shelley Shannon shot Dr. George Tiller in both arms, outside his clinic in Wichita, Kansas.[1][2][3] She is an inmate in the federal prison system. Her projected release date is November 7, 2018.[5]
At the time she attempted to murder Tiller, Shannon had been an anti-abortion activist for five years and had written letters of support to Michael Griffin, who murdered Dr. David Gunn. She called Griffin "the awesomest, greatest hero of our time." She traveled to the Wichita clinic, a site of frequent demonstrations and counter-demonstrations by abortion rights and pro-life activists. There, she shot Tiller with a semiautomatic pistol.[6]
Tiller was later assassinated on May 31, 2009, by Scott Roeder.
Trial and imprisonment
At her trial in state court, Shannon testified that there was nothing immoral about trying to kill Tiller. The jurors deliberated for an hour. They convicted her of attempted murder. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison.[6][7]
Shannon signed the Army of God's statement in support of the actions of Paul Jennings Hill while incarcerated in Lansing, Kansas.[8]
On June 4, 1995, she pleaded guilty to setting fires at several abortion clinics in Oregon, California, Idaho and Nevada. She had been indicted by federal grand juries on 30 counts in connection with fires and acid attacks at nine clinics. Charges included arson, interference with commerce by force and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.[9][10] On September 9, 1995, U.S. Federal District Court Judge James A. Redden pronounced Shannon's sentence for these crimes. Departing upward from the applicable federal sentencing guidelines, the Court sentenced Shannon to 20 years in prison. The sentence was set to begin only after Shannon's 10-year incarceration for shooting Tiller is completed.[11]
Her daughter, Angela Shannon (born ca. 1974),[12] was prosecuted for sending a death threat in 1993 to George Woodward, a Milwaukee doctor who performed abortions. (The letter arrived on March 3, 1993 — a week before the murder of David Gunn.) The elder Shannon attempted to take the blame for the death threat, but in view of Angela's fingerprints having been found on the letter, Angela was convicted and sentenced to 46 months' incarceration in 1997.[13]
In 1998, Shelley Shannon filed a lawsuit contending that the sewage system in the Kansas prison was inadequate, and that sewage backups created unhealthful conditions for the inmates. Her lawsuit was dismissed by Federal District Court Judge Kathryn Vratil in Kansas City, Kansas. The dismissal was upheld by a 2-1 vote of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.[14]
See also
External links
References
- ^ a b Phillips, Don. (August 22, 1993). "Violence Hardly Ruffled Protest Ritual." The Washington Post. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
- ^ a b NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation. (2006). Clinic violence and intimidation. Retrieved April 13, 2006.
- ^ a b Crow, Karen. (August 19, 2005). A Violent Week in August. Choice! Magazine. Retrieved April 13, 2006.
- ^ Federal Bureau of Prisons, Inmate Locator. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
- ^ Inmate Locator. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
- ^ a b Harriet Ryan, Court TV, Kopp fifth clinic shooter to face trial, March 11, 2003. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ Time Magazine, The Week March 20-26, April 4, 1994. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ THE SECOND DEFENSIVE ACTION STATEMENT
- ^ The Washington Post, Antiabortion Extremist Indicted in Attacks on Clinics in West , October 25, 1994. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ New York Times, Guilty Plea Expected In Fires at Clinics, June 4, 1995. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ New York Times, Woman Gets 20-Year Sentence In Attacks on Abortion Clinics, September 9, 1995. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ Denny Walsh, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, '93 LETTER, Jun 6, 1996. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ FindLaw.com, USA v SHANNON 97-10057. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
- ^ Robert Boczkiewicz, The Topeka Capital-Journal, Sewage lawsuit dismissal upheld, Jul 11, 2001. Retrieved January 9, 2007.