Tiller 'Knew Something Was Coming'

Murdered abortion doc worried about upsurge in protests, threats
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 6, 2009 4:20 AM CDT
Tiller 'Knew Something Was Coming'
Dr. George Tiller, who was shot to death at his church last Sunday.   (AP Photo/Larry Smith, File)

George Tiller noticed a worrying rise in protesters outside his clinics and threats against him and his staff in the weeks before his death, the Kansas City Star reports. The abortion doctor shared his concerns with a colleague in North Carolina two weeks before he was shot. "I said, ‘I don’t know, George. I think there’s something coming," the colleague recalls. “He said, ‘I do, too.’"

Abortion rights activists across America say incidents including threats and clinic vandalism were rising in the weeks before Tiller's shooting, to levels not seen since the Clinton administration. Many believe the change in government has made extremists feel desperate. "I think when they’re out of power, they feel much more threatened,” the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America said. “I hope we don’t see history repeated.” (More George Tiller stories.)

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