Legal Commentary

Tiller Murder Suspect Identified

By Jeralyn

The suspected arrested in the murder of Dr. George Tiller has been identified as 51 year old Scott Roeder of Merriman, KS. [Update: McClatchy has more on him here.]

Authorities expect to charge Roeder with murder today.

[[Roeder]was once a subscriber and occasional contributor to a newsletter, Prayer and Action News.... Dave Leach, an anti-abortion activist from Des Moines who runs the newsletter... said he and Mr. Roeder had met once, and Mr. Roeder had described similar views to his own.

Of Dr. Tiller’s death, Mr. Leach said, “To call this a crime is too simplistic,” adding, “There is Christian scripture that would support this."

An Operation Rescue leader released a contrary view: [More...]

“Operation Rescue has worked tirelessly on peaceful, nonviolent measures to bring him to justice through the legal system, the legislative system,” Mr. Newman said, adding, “We are pro-life, and this act was antithetical to what we believe.”

Roeder, while not a member or contributor to Operation Rescue, had posted on its blog. A sample:

“Tiller is the concentration camp ‘Mengele’ of our day and needs to be stopped before he and those who protect him bring judgment upon our nation.”

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 01, 2009 (boomark / email).