{{Short description|2009 murder in Wichita, Kansas}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}} {{Infobox civilian attack | title = Murder of George Tiller | image = File:George_Tiller_cropped.jpg | caption = Tiller in 2009 | location = Foyer of Reformation<br />Lutheran Church<br />7601 East 13th Street<br />Wichita, Kansas | date = {{start date and age|2009|5|31}} | time = {{circa}} 10:00 a.m. | timezone = UTC-6 | type = Shooting | victim = George Tiller, M.D. | perp = Scott Philip Roeder<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Finger |first1=Stan |last2=Rodriguez |first2=Joe |work=The Wichita Eagle |date=May 31, 2009 |title=Wichita abortion provider George Tiller shot to death at Wichita church }}</ref> | motive = Anti-abortion violence | verdict = Guilty on all counts | convictions = First degree murder, aggravated assault (x2) {{Infobox event | title = | child = yes | sentence = Life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years, plus two years }} }}
On May 31, 2009, George Tiller, an American physician from Wichita, Kansas, who was one of the few doctors in the United States to perform late terminations of pregnancy, was murdered by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion extremist.<ref name="USAT120115">{{cite news |last1=Toppo |first1=Greg |title=Threat of violence ever-present at abortion clinics, advocates say |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/12/01/planned-parenthood-attack-clinic-dangers/76613822/ |access-date=January 8, 2018 |publisher=USA Today |date=December 1, 2015 |quote=Anti-abortion extremist Scott Roeder gunned down Tiller... as he ushered at his Lutheran church. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109075229/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/12/01/planned-parenthood-attack-clinic-dangers/76613822/ |archive-date=January 9, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="TG040110">{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Richard |title=Scott Roeder sentenced to life in prison |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/apr/02/scott-roeder-murder-george-tiller-abortion |access-date=January 8, 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=April 1, 2010 |quote=Scott Roeder, the anti-abortion extremist who murdered Dr George Tiller, shouted "The blood of babies is on your hands!" as he was led from the courtroom in Wichita, Kansas, after receiving a life sentence without parole for 50 years. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109064043/https://www.theguardian.com/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/apr/02/scott-roeder-murder-george-tiller-abortion |archive-date=January 9, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="MSM09">{{cite news |last1=Kort |first1=Michele |title=A Man Who Trusted Women |url=http://www.msmagazine.com/summer2009/tiller.asp |access-date=January 8, 2018 |publisher=MS Magazine |date=Summer 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429111757/http://www.msmagazine.com/summer2009/tiller.asp |archive-date=April 29, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Tiller was shot to death at pointblank range during a Sunday morning service at his church, Reformation Lutheran Church,<ref>{{cite news |author=Joe Stumpe |author2=Monica Davey |newspaper=The New York Times |page=A1 |date=June 1, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/us/01tiller.html |title=Abortion Doctor Shot to Death in Kansas Church |access-date=January 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423235428/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/us/01tiller.html |archive-date=April 23, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> where he was serving as an usher. Tiller had previously survived a murder attempt in 1993 when Shelley Shannon shot him in the arms.
Roeder was arrested within three hours of the shooting and charged with first-degree murder and related crimes two days later. In November 2009, Roeder publicly confessed to the killing, telling the Associated Press that he had shot Tiller because "preborn children's lives were in imminent danger."<ref name="admits">{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna33802796 |title=AP: Man admits killing Kansas abortion doctor |agency=Associated Press |date=November 9, 2009 |work=NBC News |access-date=January 21, 2010 |archive-date=November 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123200830/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna33802796 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ap11jan">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/11/us/AP-US-Abortion-Shooting-Trial.html |title=Some Fear Kan. Ruling May Spur Abortion Violence |agency=Associated Press |date=January 11, 2009 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 21, 2010 }}</ref> Roeder was found guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault on January 29, 2010,<ref name="guilty">{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703389004575033052416975506?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird |title=Roeder Guilty of Murdering Abortion Provider |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=January 29, 2010 |access-date=January 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202083312/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703389004575033052416975506.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird |archive-date=February 2, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> and sentenced on April 1, 2010, to life imprisonment without any chance of parole for 50 years. This sentence was later reduced to allow for the possibility of parole after serving 25 years.<ref name="50parole">{{cite news |url=http://www.kansas.com/2010/04/01/1249310/roeder-to-be-sentenced-thursday.html |title=Scott Roeder sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole for 52 years |newspaper=The Wichita Eagle |date=April 1, 2010 |access-date=April 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100402223505/http://www.kansas.com/2010/04/01/1249310/roeder-to-be-sentenced-thursday.html |archive-date=April 2, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Shooting and aftermath== George Tiller was shot dead on May 31, 2009, during worship services at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, where he was serving as an usher. The church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Tiller was shot in the head at point blank range; he was wearing body armor, as he had been since 1998, when the FBI told him he was being targeted by anti-abortion militants.<ref name=guardian010609>{{Cite news |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=June 1, 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/01/us-doctor-tiller-killing-abortions |title=For years anti-abortionists tried to stop Doctor Tiller. Finally a bullet did |last=Pilkington |first=Ed |access-date=June 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611231436/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/01/us-doctor-tiller-killing-abortions |archive-date=June 11, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> After threatening two others who tried to prevent his departure, the gunman fled in a car. Witnesses described the vehicle as a powder-blue 1993 Ford Taurus.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Joe |last2=Potter |first2=Tim |last3=Finger |first3=Stan |title=Suspect in shooting death of abortion provider George Tiller may be charged today |url=http://www.kansas.com/news/breaking/story/833730.html |work=The Wichita Eagle |date=June 1, 2009 |access-date=June 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601173012/http://www.kansas.com/news/breaking/story/833730.html |archive-date=June 1, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Calling the murder "an abhorrent act of violence", U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced, {{blockquote|Federal law enforcement is coordinating with local law enforcement officials in Kansas on the investigation of this crime, and I have directed the United States Marshals Service to offer protection to other appropriate people and facilities around the nation.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/31/pro-life-groups-fear-backlash-tiller-murder |title=Attorney General Directs U.S. Marshals to Protect Abortion Providers After Murder |publisher=Fox News |date=June 1, 2009 |access-date=June 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605144025/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/31/pro-life-groups-fear-backlash-tiller-murder |archive-date=June 5, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2009/ag-speech-090531.html |title=Statement of the Attorney General on Murder of Doctor George Tiller |work=United States Department of Justice (official) |date=May 31, 2009 |access-date=June 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606151801/http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2009/ag-speech-090531.html |archive-date=June 6, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
Wichita had no abortion provider until 2013, when Trust Women Foundation opened a clinic in the city.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/in-wichita-the-ground-zero-of-the-abortion-war-a-new-clinic-rises |title=In Wichita, the Ground Zero of the Abortion War, a New Clinic Rises |newspaper=The Daily Beast |date=January 25, 2013 |last1=Yarrow |first1=Allison }}</ref>
==Perpetrator== {{Infobox murderer | name = Scott Philip Roeder | image = Scott Roeder.jpg | image_size = 150px | caption = Roeder in the late 1990s, after his arrest for a parole violation | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|02|25}} | birth_place = Merriam, Kansas, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | conviction_penalty = 50 years to life; commuted to 25 years to life | conviction_status = Incarcerated | locations = Wichita, Kansas | country = United States | motive = Anti-abortion extremism | victims = George Tiller, 67 | date = May 31, 2009 | weapons = Pistol | conviction = Premeditated first degree murder<br>Aggravated assault (2 counts) | imprisoned = Hutchinson Correctional Facility }}
'''Scott Philip Roeder''' (born February 25, 1958<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/01/AR2009060103675.html |title=A Brief Profile of Scott Roeder |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 2, 2009 |access-date=August 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109212029/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/01/AR2009060103675.html |archive-date=November 9, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/mwd/cocv1n3.asp |date=December 12, 1997 |title=Calendar of Conspiracy, Volume 1, Number 3: A Chronology of Anti-Government Extremist Criminal Activity, July to September 1997 A Militia Watchdog Special Report |publisher=The Media Watchdog |access-date=June 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607235458/http://www.adl.org/mwd/cocv1n3.asp |archive-date=June 7, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>), who was from Merriam, Kansas,<ref name="KCSTAR-0602">{{Cite news |last1=Bauer |first1=Laura |first2=Judy L. |last2=Thomas |title=Roeder's anti-abortion activism scrutinized |date=June 2, 2009 |work=Kansas City Star }}</ref> was arrested in Gardner, Kansas, {{convert|170|miles|km}} away in the Kansas City metropolitan area three hours after the shooting.<ref name="KansasComMay31">{{cite news |first=Stan |last=Finger |title=George Tiller Shot to Death at Wichita Church |url=http://www.kansas.com/news/breaking/story/833730.html |work=The Wichita Eagle |publisher=The McClatchy Company |date=May 31, 2009 |access-date=May 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601173012/http://www.kansas.com/news/breaking/story/833730.html |archive-date=June 1, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="news">{{cite news |title=George Tiller Fatally Shot at Wichita Church |url=http://www.nbcactionnews.com/content/breaking/story/George-Tiller-Fatally-Shot-at-Wichita-Church/NoIGaXuul0C-RBrbTPnBjw.cspx |publisher=KSHB-TV |date=May 31, 2009 |access-date=May 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606083423/http://www.nbcactionnews.com/content/breaking/story/George-Tiller-Fatally-Shot-at-Wichita-Church/NoIGaXuul0C-RBrbTPnBjw.cspx |archive-date=June 6, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was charged on June 2, 2009, with first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Finger |first1=Stan |last2=Sylvester |first2=Ron |title=Scott Roeder charged with first-degree murder in George Tiller shooting death |work=The Wichita Eagle |date=June 2, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/01/kansas.doctor.killed.charges/index.html |title=Man charged in slaying of Kansas abortion doctor |publisher=CNN |access-date=June 1, 2009 |date=June 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603173516/http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/01/kansas.doctor.killed.charges/index.html |archive-date=June 3, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="RoederCharges">{{cite web |url=http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/abortion/kansas-roeder60209murder.html |title=Criminal Complaint/Information (Kansas v. Scott P. Roeder) |date=June 2, 2009 |work=FindLaw |access-date=June 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612024817/http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/abortion/kansas-roeder60209murder.html |archive-date=June 12, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> Roeder was formally charged before a Sedgwick County district judge on June 2. He said very little during the hearing, where he asked for a public defender and did not enter a plea.
Prosecutors said the killing did not meet Kansas' standards for capital murder, which would have carried a possible death sentence.<ref name=NYT0602>{{Cite news |last1=Stumpe |first1=Joe |last2=Davey |first2=Monica |title=Suspect Charged With Murder in Doctor's Killing |work=The New York Times |date=June 2, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/us/03tiller.html |access-date=June 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920200000/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/us/03tiller.html |archive-date=September 20, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article24540694.html |date=July 3, 2009 |last1=Bauer |first1=Laura |last2=Thomas |first2=Judy L. |title=Operation Rescue adviser helped Tiller suspect track doctor's court dates |publisher=McClatchy.com |access-date=September 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722041246/https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article24540694.html |archive-date=July 22, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Prior to the shooting, Roeder was not among the people monitored as potential threats by some abortion rights groups, including the state chapter of the National Organization for Women.<ref name = NYT0602 /> It has been reported that neither the FBI nor local police arrested him in the days leading up to the murder despite reports and evidence offered to both that he vandalized a women's clinic the week before and the day before.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-goodman/dr-george-tiller-didnt-ha_b_212362.html |access-date=June 8, 2009 |date=June 7, 2009 |last=Goodman |first=Amy |title=Dr. George Tiller Didn't Have to Die |work=The Huffington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609053409/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-goodman/dr-george-tiller-didnt-ha_b_212362.html |archive-date=June 9, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In a telephone call to the press from prison, Roeder admitted that he had shot and killed Tiller, and declared that he felt no remorse.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=9036328 |access-date=January 30, 2010 |date=November 9, 2009 |last=Hegeman |first=Roxanna |title=Man Confesses to Shooting Kan. Abortion Provider |work=ABC News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091111105205/http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=9036328 |archive-date=November 11, 2009 }}</ref>
===Known employment and psychiatric histories=== In the six months before Roeder's arrest, he said, he had worked for an airport shuttle service, a party-rental shop, a convenience store and a property management enterprise.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lefler |first=Dion |title=Suspect in Tiller shooting had struggled financially for years |work=The Wichita Eagle |date=June 4, 2009 |access-date=June 5, 2009 |url=http://www.kansas.com/news/tiller/story/839458.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606181727/http://www.kansas.com/news/tiller/story/839458.html |archive-date=June 6, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>
After his arrest, Roeder's ex-wife, Lindsey Roeder, claimed that Roeder had been mentally ill and that at about the age of 20 he was diagnosed with possible schizophrenia, but she offered her own diagnosis of bipolar disorder.<ref name=LINDSEY360>{{cite news |last=Cooper |first=Anderson |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0906/02/acd.02.html |title=Transcript: Killing of Abortion Doctor |date=June 2, 2009 |work=Anderson Cooper 360° |publisher=CNN |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607063455/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0906/02/acd.02.html |archive-date=June 7, 2009 |url-status=live}} Interview with Lindsey Roeder.</ref> Roeder claimed to be the father of a young child and asked for time for visitation, but the mother of that child did not wish such visitation.<ref name = LINDSEY360 /> The 2005 Pennsylvania family court which ruled on Roeder's custody petition regarding a daughter born in 2002 took formal notice that Roeder had been diagnosed with possible schizophrenia and was not on medication.<ref name=BGAP>{{Cite news |title=Suspect in killing of Dr. George Tiller railed against abortion |work=Boston Herald |agency=Associated Press |date=June 2, 2009 |url=http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/central/view/2009_06_02_Suspect_in_killing_of_Dr__George_Tiller_railed_against_abortion/srvc=home&position=recent |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606145732/http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/central/view/2009_06_02_Suspect_in_killing_of_Dr__George_Tiller_railed_against_abortion/srvc%3Dhome%26position%3Drecent |archive-date=June 6, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The Associated Press quoted Roeder's brother, David, who said that Scott had had mental illness from time to time:
{{blockquote|However, none of us ever saw Scott as a person capable of or willing to take another person's life. Our deepest regrets, prayers and sympathy go out to the Tiller family during this terrible time.<ref name="BGAP"/> }}
===Anti-government activism=== Roeder had been a member of the anti-government Montana Freemen group. He was stopped in Topeka, Kansas, in April 1996 while displaying a placard reading "Sovereign Citizen" in lieu of a license plate. He had no driver's license, vehicle registration or proof of insurance. Police officers searching his car discovered explosive charges, a fuse cord, a pound of gunpowder and nine-volt batteries in the trunk. He was charged, represented by a public defender, convicted in June of all four counts and sentenced to 24 months probation. In July 1997, his probation was revoked for failure to pay taxes and provide his social security number to his employer as well as other probation violations. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison to be followed by 24 months parole supervision. He filed notice of appeal and was represented by a state-funded appellate attorney who challenged the basis of the original search that found the bomb components. The Kansas Court of Appeals overturned this conviction in March 1998, ruling that the search of Roeder's car had been illegal and remanded the case to the trial court. Roeder was released after serving eight months.<ref name = telegraphnews>{{cite news |title=Barack Obama shocked by abortion doctor shooting |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5418993/Barack-Obama-shocked-by-abortion-doctor-shooting.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=June 1, 2009 |access-date=June 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607084641/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5418993/Barack-Obama-shocked-by-abortion-doctor-shooting.html |archive-date=June 7, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Suspected Freeman Arrested With Bomb Fuse |work=The Seattle Times |date=April 17, 1996 |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19960417/2324642/suspected-freeman-arrested-with-bomb-fuse |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611194700/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960417&slug=2324642 |archive-date=June 11, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |work=Shawnee County Kansas court file |title=Case number 96CR 01251 |url=http://shawneecourt.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024073900/http://shawneecourt.org/ |archive-date=October 24, 2018 |date=March 2, 1999 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Fitzpatrick |first=Laura |title=Scott Roeder: The Tiller Murder Suspect |magazine=TIME |date=June 2, 2009 |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1902189,00.html |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611193130/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0%2C8599%2C1902189%2C00.html |archive-date=June 11, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Bello |first1=Marisol |last2=Stone |first2=Andrea |work=USA Today |date=June 2, 2009 |title=Details of suspects in abortion slaying emerge |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-06-01-abortiondoc_N.htm |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603082452/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-06-01-abortiondoc_N.htm |archive-date=June 3, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Roeder belonged to the sovereign citizen movement, which believes that virtually all existing government in the United States is illegitimate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/scm.html?xpicked=4 |title=Sovereign Citizen Movement |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |date=2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207011105/http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/scm.html?xpicked=4 |archive-date=February 7, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The ADL's National Director Abraham Foxman stated that "Roeder's attachment to extreme causes extended beyond anti-abortion extremism. His extremism cross-pollinated between anti-government extremism and anti-abortion activism and led to violence and murder."<ref name = ADL-Mengele >{{Cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Extremism_72/5540_72.htm |title=Shooter In Kansas Physician Killing Held Extreme Beliefs |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |date=June 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608023212/http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Extremism_72/5540_72.htm |archive-date=June 8, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=ADL-Arrested>{{Cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/learn/extremism_in_the_news/Other_Extremism/Roeder+Tiller.htm |title=Kansas Extremist Arrested for Physician Slaying |work=Anti-Defamation League |date=June 1, 2009 |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608023339/http://www.adl.org/learn/extremism_in_the_news/Other_Extremism/Roeder%2BTiller.htm |archive-date=June 8, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
After being charged with murder, Roeder frequently called an Associated Press reporter from the county jail. He complained about being treated like a criminal and about his having been characterized in other media as having been anti-government. Roeder told the reporter, "I want people to stop and think: It is not anti-government, it is anti-corrupt-government."<ref>{{Cite news |title=Suspect in abortion provider's slaying says he's 'being treated as a criminal' |date=June 4, 2009 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram }}</ref>
===Lindsey Roeder statements=== Lindsey and Scott Roeder were married in 1986, and were together for ten years.<ref name = LINDSEY360 /> Immediately after his 2009 arrest, she stated that the explosives which led to his 1996 arrest had been intended for detonation at an abortion clinic.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cleaver |first=Marissa |work=KSHB-TV |date=June 3, 2009 |title=Suspect's Ex-Wife Says Unraveling Began in '90s |url=http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Suspects-Ex-Wife-Says-Unraveling-Began-in-90s/WzA-h3Svc0axH4fFoPEDVw.cspx |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606151934/http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Suspects-Ex-Wife-Says-Unraveling-Began-in-90s/WzA-h3Svc0axH4fFoPEDVw.cspx |archive-date=June 6, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
On June 2, 2009, Lindsey Roeder gave an interview to Anderson Cooper of CNN about when and why her husband became radicalized:
{{blockquote|It was about 1991–92 when he basically couldn't cope with everyday life. He couldn't make ends meet, he couldn't pay the bills and didn't know why he couldn't do that. And someone told him that if he didn't pay his federal taxes, if those taxes were left in his check, he could make ends meet. And then he started investigating that and someone told him that it wasn't ratified properly in the Constitution, that it was illegal. And he went from there and got into the anti-government, got into the militia, got into the Freeman, and along those lines anti-abortion issues came up and he started becoming very religious in the sense that he finally – he was reading the Bible. But then, after we were divorced, his religion took on a whole new right wing of itself.<ref name = LINDSEY360 />}}
===Anti-abortion militancy=== David Leach, publisher of ''Prayer & Action News,'' a magazine that opines that the killing of abortion providers would be justifiable homicide, told reporters that he and Roeder had met once in the late 1990s and that Roeder at that time had authored contributions to Leach's publication.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Spillius |first1=Alex |last2=Leonard |first2=Tom |title=Suspect in abortion doctor killing 'had history of mental illness' |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK |date=June 1, 2009 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5423829/Suspect-in-abortion-doctor-killing-had-history-of-mental-illness.html |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605164346/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5423829/Suspect-in-abortion-doctor-killing-had-history-of-mental-illness.html |archive-date=June 5, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hegeman |first1=Roxana |last2=Fisher |first2=Maria Sudekum |title=Defendant in doc's killing railed against abortion |date=June 2, 2009 |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEsxTHOvCbc954sBWc59DuoqWxiwD98I4KLO0 |access-date=June 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624231811/https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEsxTHOvCbc954sBWc59DuoqWxiwD98I4KLO0 |archive-date=June 24, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Leys |first=Tony |title=Des Moines abortion opponent: Doctor's death may be justified |work=The Des Moines Register |date=June 2, 2009 }}</ref> Leach published the Army of God manual, which advocates the killing of the providers of abortion and contains bomb-making instructions, in the January 1996 issue of his magazine.<ref name=christiangallery>{{Cite web |last=Bray |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Bray |title=Buchanan: Disestablishing Statism |publisher=The Christian Gallery |url=http://www.christiangallery.com/spr961.htm |date=January 22, 1996 |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731075723/http://www.christiangallery.com/spr961.htm |archive-date=July 31, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> A Kansas acquaintance of Roeder's, Regina Dinwiddie, told a reporter after Tiller's murder (speaking of Roeder), "I know that he believed in justifiable homicide." Dinwiddie, an anti-abortion militant featured in the 2000 HBO documentary ''Soldiers in the Army of God'', added that she had observed Roeder in 1996 enter Kansas City Planned Parenthood's abortion clinic and ask to talk to the physician there; after staring at him for nearly a minute, Roeder said, "I've seen you now," before turning and walking away.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Suspect in Tiller's death supported killing abortion providers, friends say |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/69151.html |first=Judy L. |last=Thomas |publisher=Kansas City Star |date=May 31, 2009 |access-date=June 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605164234/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/69151.html |archive-date=June 5, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Roeder's former roommate of two years, Eddie Ebecher, who had met Roeder through the Freemen movement in the 1990s, told a reporter after Tiller's murder that he and Roeder had considered themselves members of the Army of God. Ebecher said Roeder was obsessed with Tiller and discussed killing him, but that Ebecher warned him not to do so. Ebecher, who went by the ''nom de guerre'' "Wolfgang Anacon," added that he believed Roeder held "high moral convictions in order to carry out this act. I feel that Scott had a burden for all the children being murdered."<ref>{{Cite news |title=Slaying suspect 'obsessed' with Kansas doctor, ex-roommate says |publisher=CNN |date=June 4, 2009 |access-date=June 5, 2009 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/04/kansas.doctor.killed/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609131036/http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/04/kansas.doctor.killed/ |archive-date=June 9, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2007, someone who identified himself as Scott Roeder posted on the website of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue that "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." This was reported by the ADL's Center on Extremism, noting that Roeder called for "the closing of his death camp."<ref name = ADL-Mengele /><ref name = ADL-Arrested /> After Tiller's murder, officials from Operation Rescue, which had long opposed Tiller's abortion practices but denounced his shooting, said Roeder was not a contributor or member of the group.<ref name = NYT0602 /> The cell phone number for Operation Rescue's senior policy advisor, convicted clinic bomb plotter Cheryl Sullenger, was found on the dashboard of Scott Roeder's car.<ref name=KMBC>{{Cite news |title=Phone number found inside car of man suspected of killing George Tiller belongs to woman who plotted 1988 clinic bombing |url=http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2009/06/inside_the_car_of_the.php |date=June 1, 2009 |work=The Pitch |access-date=June 4, 2009 |last=Kendall |first=Justin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602140253/http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2009/06/inside_the_car_of_the.php |archive-date=June 2, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> At first, Sullenger denied any contact with Roeder, saying that her phone number is freely available online. Then, she revised her statements, indicating that Roeder's interest was in court hearings involving Tiller.
{{blockquote|He would call and say, "When does court start? When's the next hearing?" I was polite enough to give him the information. I had no reason not to. Who knew? Who knew, you know what I mean?<ref name = KCSTAR-0602 />}}
Roeder reportedly attended the 2009 trial in which Tiller was acquitted of violating state abortion laws; Roeder called the trial "a sham" and felt the justice system failed in letting Tiller go free. On May 30, one day before Tiller was killed, a worker at a Kansas City clinic told the Federal Bureau of Investigation that Roeder had tried gluing the locks of the clinic shut, something Roeder was suspected of doing there before years earlier.<ref name = NYT0602 /> The ''Kansas City Star'' reported that a man of Roeder's description had glued the locks shut at the Central Family Medicine clinic in Kansas City on May 23 and 30.<ref name = KCSTAR-0602 />
== Reactions to Tiller's killing == thumb|right|250px|A June 1, 2009, candlelight vigil in Boston, Massachusetts, for George Tiller President Barack Obama said, "I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence."<ref name = telegraphnews/>
A number of other organizations also condemned the murder. Cardinal Justin Rigali of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops stated,
{{blockquote|Our bishops' conference and all its members have repeatedly and publicly denounced all forms of violence in our society, including abortion as well as the misguided resort to violence by anyone opposed to abortion. Such killing is the opposite of everything we stand for, and everything we want our culture to stand for: respect for the life of each and every human being from its beginning to its natural end. We pray for Dr. Tiller and his family.<ref>{{Cite web |publisher=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops |date=June 1, 2009 |url=http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-121.shtml |title=U.S. Bishops Express 'Profound Regret' about Shooting Death of Abortion Doctor |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603191403/http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-121.shtml |archive-date=June 3, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, condemned the killing, saying,
{{blockquote|We are stunned at today's news. As Christians we pray and look toward the end of all violence and for the saving of souls, not the taking of human life. George Tiller was a man who we publicly sought to stop through legal and peaceful means. We strongly condemn the actions taken today by this vigilante killer and we pray for the Tiller family and for the nation that we might once again be a nation that values all human life, both born and unborn.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.frc.org/pressrelease/frc-condemns-the-murder-of-george-tiller |title=FRC Condemns the Murder of George Tiller |publisher=Family Research Council |date=May 31, 2009 |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603194816/http://www.frc.org/pressrelease/frc-condemns-the-murder-of-george-tiller |archive-date=June 3, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
The American Jewish Congress stated in a press release that Tiller's murder "exemplifies criminal anarchy, not legitimate protest. Dr. Tiller's murder was not just a terrible crime against an individual. It was also a crime against our democracy... Murder is not a debating technique. It is never, and must never be, an accepted way of advancing a point of view."<ref>[http://www.ajcongress.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7043 Statement of the American Jewish Congress Killing of Dr. George Tiller "Criminal Anarchy" and a Crime Against Democracy] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607050538/http://www.ajcongress.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7043 |date=June 7, 2009 }}, American Jewish Congress, Press Release, June 1, 2009.</ref> The National Council of Jewish Women also condemned the murder, with President Nancy Ratzan stating that "Dr. Tiller devoted his life to ensuring that women did indeed have choices when confronted with an unintended or untenable pregnancy. His murder – his assassination – is intended to terrorize not only all involved with providing abortions but anyone even remotely associated with abortion rights." The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism also condemned Tiller's murder.<ref name="JTP0602">{{Cite news |agency=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=June 2, 2009 |url=http://jta.org/news/article/2009/06/02/1005570/jewish-groups-speak-out-on-tiller-killing |title=Jewish groups speak out on Tiller killing |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606145441/http://jta.org/news/article/2009/06/02/1005570/jewish-groups-speak-out-on-tiller-killing |archive-date=June 6, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Other reactions included:
* David N. O'Steen, director the National Right to Life Committee released this statement on May 31, 2009: {{blockquote|National Right to Life extends its sympathies to Dr. Tiller's family over this loss of life. Further, the National Right to Life Committee unequivocally condemns any such acts of violence regardless of motivation. The pro-life movement works to protect the right to life and increase respect for human life. The unlawful use of violence is directly contrary to that goal.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.nrlc.org/press_releases_new/Release053109.html |title=National Right to Life condemns the killing of Dr. George Tiller |publisher=National Right to Life Committee |date=May 31, 2009 |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603190150/http://www.nrlc.org/press_releases_new/Release053109.html |archive-date=June 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref>}}
* Operation Rescue released this statement on May 31, 2009: {{blockquote|We are shocked at this morning's disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down. Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning. We pray for Mr. Tiller's family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Tiller slaying, abortion opponents lose their moral standing |work=Kansas City Star |last=Hendricks |first=Mike |date=May 31, 2009 }}</ref>}}
* Mary Kay Culp, director of Kansans for Life, said that the organization "deplores the murder of Dr. George Tiller, and we wish to express our deep and sincere sympathy to his family and friends. We value life, completely deplore violence, and are shocked and very upset by what happened in Wichita today."<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=3071 |title=Pro-life groups condemn slaying of late-term abortionist |date=June 1, 2009 |publisher=Catholic Culture |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610131822/http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=3071 |archive-date=June 10, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> * Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue, condemned the victim rather than the murderer: {{blockquote|George Tiller was a mass-murderer. We grieve for him that he did not have time to properly prepare his soul to face God. I am more concerned that the Obama Administration will use Tiller's killing to intimidate pro-lifers into surrendering our most effective rhetoric and actions. Abortion is still murder. And we still must call abortion by its proper name; murder. Those men and women who slaughter the unborn are murderers according to the Law of God. We must continue to expose them in our communities and peacefully protest them at their offices and homes, and yes, even their churches.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/8967610531.html |title=George Tiller was a Mass-Murderer, says Randall Terry |work=Christian News Wire |date=May 31, 2009 |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606195858/http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/8967610531.html |archive-date=June 6, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
* Wiley Drake, vice-presidential candidate for the America's Independent Party ticket in 2008 and the second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2006–2007,<ref name=drake>{{cite news |url=http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4119&Itemid=53 |title=Former SBC officer says Tiller murder answer to prayer |last=Allen |first=Bob |date=July 2, 2009 |publisher=Associated Baptist Press |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719013923/http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4119&Itemid=53 |archive-date=July 19, 2011 }}</ref> asked on his radio show, "Would you have rejoiced when Adolf Hitler died during the war? ... I would have said, 'Amen! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! I'm glad he's dead.' This man, George Tiller, was far greater in his atrocities than Adolf Hitler, so I am happy; I am glad that he is dead."<ref name=drake/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Koppelman |first=Alex |work=Salon.com |date=June 2, 2009 |url=http://www.salon.com/2009/06/02/drake_tiller/ |title=Keyes' running mate: Tiller murder "answer to prayer" |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611192049/http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/06/02/drake_tiller/index.html |archive-date=June 11, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * Anti-abortion militants The Army of God, a group that promotes "leaderless resistance" as its organizing principle,<ref>As of 2009, The Army of God's webpage hosts a reprint of an article entitled "Leaderless Resistance" from a publication called ''The Seditionist''. See http://www.armyofgod.com/LeaderlessResistance.htm {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220132905/http://www.armyofgod.com/LeaderlessResistance.htm |date=February 20, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=The Terrorist Campaign Against Abortion |work=The Village Voice |last=Gonnerman |first=Jennifer |date=November 10, 1998 |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/1998-11-10/news/the-terrorist-campaign-against-abortion/3 |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607003600/http://www.villagevoice.com/1998-11-10/news/the-terrorist-campaign-against-abortion/3 |archive-date=June 7, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> issued a statement calling Tiller's presumed killer an "American hero."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Posner |first=Sarah |title=Puke, guts, and the chutzpah of William Saletan |work=The American Prospect |date=June 2, 2009 |url=http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=06&year=2009&base_name=puke_guts_and_the_chutzpah_of |access-date=June 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810213109/http://prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=06&year=2009&base_name=puke_guts_and_the_chutzpah_of |archive-date=August 10, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Donald Spitz from that group stated, "I believe what he (Scott Roeder) did was justified manslaughter to save those unborn children from the baby murderer Dr. Tiller".<ref> {{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-abortion-usa-trial/activist-convicted-for-slaying-kansas-abortion-doctor-idUSTRE60S4UB20100129 |title=Activist convicted for slaying Kansas abortion doctor |date=January 29, 2010 |publisher=Reuters |access-date=January 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111001532/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-abortion-usa-trial/activist-convicted-for-slaying-kansas-abortion-doctor-idUSTRE60S4UB20100129 |archive-date=November 11, 2018 |url-status=live}} </ref> * Pointing out what he saw as a philosophical problem with "non-violent" right-to-lifism, ''Reason'' columnist Jacob Sullum wrote "if you honestly believe abortion is the murder of helpless children, it's hard to see why using deadly force against those who carry it out is immoral, especially since the government refuses to act."<ref>{{cite web |last=Sullum |first=Jacob |title=Why Is Killing Abortionists Wrong? |url=http://reason.com/blog/2009/06/01/why-is-killing-abortionists-wr |work=Hit and Run Blog |date=June 2009 |publisher=Reason |access-date=April 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013212921/http://reason.com/blog/2009/06/01/why-is-killing-abortionists-wr |archive-date=October 13, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> William Saletan,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2219537/ |last=Saletan |first=William |author-link=William Saletan |title=Tiller's Killer: Is it wrong to murder an abortionist? |date=June 1, 2009 |publisher=Slate.com |access-date=June 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605144708/http://www.slate.com/id/2219537 |archive-date=June 5, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> Jacob Appel{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}}, Colby Cosh,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kay |first=Barbara |date=June 2, 2009 |title=Barbara Kay on who's to blame for George Tiller's murder |url=https://nationalpost.com/holy-post/barbara-kay-on-whos-to-blame-for-george-tillers-murder |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20251029130030/https://nationalpost.com/holy-post/barbara-kay-on-whos-to-blame-for-george-tillers-murder |archive-date=October 29, 2025 |access-date=October 29, 2025 |website=National Post }}</ref> and Damon Linker<ref>{{cite news |url=https://newrepublic.com/blog/damon-linker/question-pro-lifers |last=Linker |first=Damon |author-link=Damon Linker |title=A Question for Pro-Lifers |date=May 31, 2009 |publisher=The New Republic |access-date=March 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927192018/http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/damon-linker/question-pro-lifers |archive-date=September 27, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> similarly questioned the anti-abortion movement's consistency in condemning Tiller's murder.
Some commentators argued that the treatment of the murder, by both the White House and the media, was absurdly disproportionate.<ref name=malkin>{{cite web |url=http://michellemalkin.com/2009/06/03/mapping-the-climate-of-hate/ |last=Malkin |first=Michelle |author-link=Michelle Malkin |title=Mapping the "climate of hate" |date=June 3, 2009 |publisher=MichelleMalkin.com |access-date=June 6, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606123414/http://michellemalkin.com/2009/06/03/mapping-the-climate-of-hate/ |archive-date=June 6, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/06/obama_quietly_issues_statement_1.asp |title=Obama Quietly Issues Statement on Terrorist Attack in Arkansas |last=McCormak |first=John |publisher=The Weekly Standard |access-date=June 6, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607022910/http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/06/obama_quietly_issues_statement_1.asp |archive-date=June 7, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The day after the murder, two soldiers were attacked at an Army recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas: one died; the other suffered injuries. Comparing this incident with the Tiller murder, Michelle Malkin wrote,
{{blockquote|Tiller's suspected murderer, Scott Roeder, was white, Christian, anti-government, and anti-abortion. The gunman in the military recruiting center attack, Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, was black, a Muslim convert, anti-military, and anti-American. Both crimes are despicable, cowardly acts of domestic terrorism. But the disparate treatment of the two brutal cases by both the White House and the media is striking.<ref name=malkin/>}}
James Taranto of ''The Wall Street Journal'' found fault with this view, claiming that its proponents failed to acknowledge that the crimes were different in nature and, therefore, in public import. Although equally "abhorrent",
{{blockquote|in the hierarchy of public significance, assassinations rank higher than hate crimes, which in turn rank higher than "ordinary" murders. The murder of Martin Luther King was bigger news, and is a more important part of history, than any individual lynching, even though both were atrocious crimes spurred by similar ideological motives.<ref name=WSJ0624>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124422029369889475 |last=Taranto |first=James |title=Two Murders, Two Statements |date=June 5, 2009 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=June 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823115949/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124422029369889475 |archive-date=August 23, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>}}
Taranto also felt that the President's sentiments on the cases could be read quite differently: although his condemnation of the Tiller killing was worded far more strongly, it was only to the soldiers and their kin that condolences and sympathy were proffered, in spite of the fact that Tiller's wife was present at her husband's death.<ref>Obama's statement on the Arkansas attack read thus: "I am deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence against two brave young soldiers who were doing their part to strengthen our armed forces and keep our country safe. I would like to wish Quinton Ezeagwula a speedy recovery, and to offer my condolences and prayers to William Long's family as they mourn the loss of their son."</ref> "If anything", Taranto opined, the statement was somewhat "cowardly", and the pains to which he went to appease the anti-abortion movement were duly noted.<ref>"Two Murders, Two Statements"</ref>
Another response to Malkin's charge of "disparate treatment of the two brutal cases" has been that the true disparity was the mass media's downplaying of Roeder's Christianity. In this view, major media outlets "relegate Mr. Roeder's religious motivation to the margins, while all play up Mr. Muhammad's connections to Islam."<ref>{{cite web |last=Mathewson |first=Dan |title=Muslims Murder, Christians Don't: What Went Missing in Analysis of Tiller's Executioner |publisher=Religion Dispatches |date=June 5, 2009 |url=http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/religiousright/1533/muslims_murder%2C_christians_don%E2%80%99t%3A_what_went_missing_in_analysis_of_tiller%E2%80%99s_executioner |access-date=June 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608150136/http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/religiousright/1533/muslims_murder%2C_christians_don%E2%80%99t%3A_what_went_missing_in_analysis_of_tiller%E2%80%99s_executioner |archive-date=June 8, 2009 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
Fox News Channel commentator Bill O'Reilly has also been accused of demonizing Tiller.<ref>{{cite news |first=Amy |last=Goodman |author-link=Amy Goodman |title=Dr. George Tiller Didn't Have to Die |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-goodman/dr-george-tiller-didnt-ha_b_212362.html |work=The Huffington Post |date=June 7, 2009 |access-date=June 9, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609053409/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-goodman/dr-george-tiller-didnt-ha_b_212362.html |archive-date=June 9, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> O'Reilly was found to have mentioned Tiller by name on ''The O'Reilly Factor'', his show on the Fox News Channel, 42 separate times prior to Tiller's death, referring to him specifically as a "baby killer" in 24 instances.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bill O'Reilly called George Tiller "a baby killer" without attribution |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jun/05/bill-oreilly/bill-oreilly-called-george-tiller-baby-killer/ |access-date=July 25, 2015 |publisher=PolitiFact |date=June 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226150711/http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jun/05/bill-oreilly/bill-oreilly-called-george-tiller-baby-killer/ |archive-date=December 26, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> O'Reilly said he was not responsible for Tiller's death and defended his campaign against Tiller, saying:
{{blockquote|When I heard about Tiller's murder, I knew pro-abortion zealots and Fox News haters would attempt to blame us for the crime, and that's exactly what has happened. [...] Every single thing we said about Tiller was true, and my analysis was based on those facts. [...] Now, it's clear that the far left is exploiting — exploiting — the death of the doctor. Those vicious individuals want to stifle any criticism of people like Tiller. That — and hating Fox News — is the real agenda here.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thinkprogress.org/media/2009/06/01/43345/oreilly-tiller-respond/ |title=O'Reilly Responds To The Tiller Murder: 'No Backpedaling Here…Every Single Thing We Said About Tiller Was True' |website=ThinkProgress |date=June 2, 2009 |access-date=October 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006074808/http://thinkprogress.org/media/2009/06/01/43345/oreilly-tiller-respond/ |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>}}
In 2009, Congressman Keith Ellison said, "There is no room in America to 'justify' murder in the name of ideological differences. I condemn the act committed against Dr. Tiller as well as those who take comfort from his death."<ref name="Ellison Condemns Kansas Physician Slaying">{{cite web |title=Ellison Condemns Kansas Physician Slaying |url=http://ellison.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=227:press-statement-ellison-condemns-kansas-physician-slaying&catid=1:latest&Itemid=16 |access-date=June 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915105015/http://ellison.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=227:press-statement-ellison-condemns-kansas-physician-slaying&catid=1:latest&Itemid=16 |archive-date=September 15, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
On June 9, U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter sponsored a House resolution condemning the murder of Tiller, which was unanimously passed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Slaughter |first=Louise |author-link=Louise Slaughter |title=Tolerance is Always Superior to Intolerance |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-louise-slaughter/tolerance-is-always-super_b_213438.html |work=The Huffington Post |date=June 9, 2009 |access-date=June 9, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112201047/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-louise-slaughter/tolerance-is-always-super_b_213438.html |archive-date=November 12, 2012 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
Several anti-abortion groups claimed to have received death threats in the aftermath of the shooting, some of them threatening "vengeance" against the anti-abortion movement.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kansas pro-life groups receiving death threats after Tiller's murder |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/16338/kansas-pro-life-groups-receiving-death-threats-after-tillers-murder |newspaper=Catholic News Agency |date=June 20, 2009 |access-date=June 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627005158/https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/kansas_prolife_groups_receiving_death_threats_after_tillers_murder |archive-date=June 27, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
Although most anti-abortion activists avoided Tiller's funeral, 17 members from the Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funeral. The church members held signs that read "God sent the shooter", "Abortion is bloody murder", and "Baby Killer in Hell".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/06/george-tiller-funeral-att_n_212155.html |work=Huffington Post |title=George Tiller Funeral Attended By Hundreds |date=June 6, 2009 |access-date=November 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112221343/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/06/george-tiller-funeral-att_n_212155.html |archive-date=January 12, 2014 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Aaron J. Leichman |title=Hundreds Pay Last Respects to George Tiller |date=June 7, 2009 |url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/hundreds-pay-last-respects-to-george-tiller-39026/ |access-date=August 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112204736/http://www.christianpost.com/news/hundreds-pay-last-respects-to-george-tiller-39026/ |archive-date=January 12, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Trial of Scott Roeder== On June 2, 2009, the District Attorney of the 18th Judicial District of the State of Kansas filed charges on behalf of the State of Kansas against Scott Roeder consisting of one count first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.<ref name="charges">{{cite web |url=http://news.findlaw.com/wsj/docs/abortion/kansas-roeder60209murder.html |title=Kansas Murder Charges Against Scott Roeder |last=Find Law |date=June 2, 2009 |access-date=January 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203024156/http://news.findlaw.com/wsj/docs/abortion/kansas-roeder60209murder.html |archive-date=February 3, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> A preliminary hearing was held in Wichita on July 28, 2009.<ref name="prelim">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1957340,00.html |title=Defendant Testifies Abortion-Doctor Kill |agency=AP TIME in partnership with CNN |date=January 28, 2010 |access-date=January 30, 2010 |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203082245/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0%2C8599%2C1957340%2C00.html |archive-date=February 3, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Judge Warren Wilbert ruled on January 8, 2010, that he would allow Roeder's defense team to argue for a voluntary manslaughter conviction, which in Kansas is defined as killing with "an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force."<ref>{{cite news |last=Guarino |first=Mark |title=Abortion in spotlight with Roe v. Wade anniversary, Kansas trial |date=January 22, 2010 |publisher=Fox News |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0122/Abortion-in-spotlight-with-Roe-v.-Wade-anniversary-Kansas-trial |access-date=December 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206225214/http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0122/Abortion-in-spotlight-with-Roe-v.-Wade-anniversary-Kansas-trial |archive-date=December 6, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday, January 11, 2010, but was delayed after prosecutors challenged the judge's decision to allow the defense to build a case for a lesser charge.<ref name="prelim"/> Selection proceedings began in closed session on January 12, 2010. Judge Wilbert had ordered jury selection closed to the public and press citing fears jurors would be less than truthful if questioned in public.<ref name="jury selection">{{cite news |title=Roeder Guilty of Murdering Abortion Provider |last=The Wichita Eagle |date=January 13, 2010 }}</ref> The Kansas State Supreme Court overturned his order, although parts of the questions to individual jurors remained private.
The court heard opening statements on January 22, 2010.<ref name="opening">{{cite news |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/north_america/jan-june10/newswrap_01-22.html |title=News Wrap: Biden Visits Iraq to Quash Election Dispute |last=PBS NEWSHOUR |date=January 22, 2010 |access-date=January 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125040036/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/north_america/jan-june10/newswrap_01-22.html |archive-date=January 25, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The defense had asked the court to hear the testimony of the former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline and Barry Disney, a current member of that office. Both had previously tried to convict Tiller of providing illegal late-term abortions. The judge, upon previewing the testimony of Kline, disallowed his testimony pointing out such abortions are legal in Kansas and citing the possibility of prejudicing the jury.<ref name="kline">{{cite news |author=Mike Hendricks |title=Thankfully, no Kline testimony in Roeder trial |work=The Star: Kansas City.com |date=January 28, 2010 |url=http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/21166 |access-date=January 30, 2010 }}</ref>
Scott Roeder took the stand in his own defense on January 28, 2010. At the outset, he admitted to killing Tiller, defending his act as an attempt to save unborn children and giving his views on abortion. Under questioning by his attorney, he attempted to describe abortion practices in detail but was repeatedly halted by objections based on his lack of medical expertise.<ref name="prelim"/>
Following Roeder's testimony on the stand, Judge Wilbert ruled that the jury would not have the voluntary manslaughter option.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2010/01/closing-arguments-coming-in-roeder-trial.html |title=Closing arguments coming in Roeder trial |date=January 29, 2010 |work=Kansas City Star |last=James |first=Hart |access-date=December 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713134518/http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2010/01/closing-arguments-coming-in-roeder-trial.html |archive-date=July 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
On January 29, 2010, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all three charges after less than 40 minutes of deliberation.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.kansascity.com/679/story/1713378.html |title=Roeder trial: Judge rules out manslaughter option |date=January 29, 2010 |work=Kansas City Star |author=Thomas, Judy L. }}</ref> Roeder's attorneys appealed the conviction, arguing that the jury should have been given the voluntary manslaughter option. The Kansas Supreme Court heard the appeal on January 29, 2014, and rejected it, upholding Roeder's conviction, on October 24, 2014.<ref name="KSC">{{cite web |url=http://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article3346852.html |title=Court upholds Scott Roeder's conviction in George Tiller's murder but orders resentencing |access-date=November 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128165429/http://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article3346852.html |archive-date=November 28, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>
On April 1, 2010, in Wichita, Kansas, Sedgwick County District Judge Warren Wilbert sentenced Roeder to a "Hard 50", meaning life in prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years, for the murder of Tiller, the maximum sentence available in Kansas, plus an additional two years for the two counts of aggravated assault.<ref name="50parole"/> Since then, the U.S. Supreme Court has altered the rules regarding when mandatory minimum sentences such as the "Hard 50" may be imposed, and on October 24, 2014, the Kansas Supreme Court called for re-sentencing. According to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision, the "hard 50" can still be imposed, but the finding that the circumstances of the crime justify the sentence must be made by a jury, rather than by the judge.<ref name="KSC" />
On November 23, 2016, Roeder was re-sentenced to life in prison but is now eligible to apply for parole after serving 25 years rather than after 50 years. As before, besides the sentence for murder, Roeder was also sentenced to two additional years for aggravated assault because he had threatened to shoot two church ushers while fleeing the murder. Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said that prosecutors made the decision not to convene a new jury or ask for the reinstatement of the "hard 50", because of Roeder's age, his worsening health, and the likelihood that he will die in prison before the 25 years pass. The prosecutors also consulted Tiller's family, who said that they were comfortable with the reduction.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scott-roeder-man-who-killed-george-tiller-late-term-abortion-doctor-gets-new-lenient-sentence/ |title=Man who killed late-term abortion doctor gets lighter sentence |website=CBS News |date=November 23, 2016 |access-date=November 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130034921/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/scott-roeder-man-who-killed-george-tiller-late-term-abortion-doctor-gets-new-lenient-sentence/ |archive-date=November 30, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Further threats from prison=== In 2013, Roeder was placed in solitary confinement for 45 days for issuing further threats of violence during a telephone interview with anti-abortion activist David Leach.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/06/12/scott-roeder-put-in-solitary-confinement-over-threats-targeting-abortion-clinic-staff/ |title=Scott Roeder Put in Solitary Confinement Over Threats Targeting Abortion Clinic Staff - Rewire |date=June 12, 2013 |access-date=September 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914090829/http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/06/12/scott-roeder-put-in-solitary-confinement-over-threats-targeting-abortion-clinic-staff/ |archive-date=September 14, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Murphy |first=Kevin |date=June 7, 2013 |title=Kan. abortion doctor killer disciplined in prison for comments |url=http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/kan-abortion-doctor-killer-disciplined-in-prison-for-comments |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613153258/http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/kan-abortion-doctor-killer-disciplined-in-prison-for-comments |archive-date=June 13, 2013 |access-date=September 14, 2014 |website=MSN }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/george-tiller-murdered-abortion-doctor-trust-women-foundation-interview-1440383 |title=WHO WAS DR. GEORGE TILLER? LEGACY OF MURDERED ABORTION DOCTOR LIVES ON THROUGH TRUST WOMEN FOUNDATION |website=Newsweek |date=May 31, 2019 |access-date=May 31, 2026 |archive-date=August 7, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250807003925/https://www.newsweek.com/george-tiller-murdered-abortion-doctor-trust-women-foundation-interview-1440383 |url-status=live }}</ref> He referenced the work of Julie Burkhart, Founder and CEO of Trust Women Foundation to open an abortion providing facility in Wichita.
==Aftermath== The National Network of Abortion Funds established the George Tiller Memorial Abortion Fund.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fundabortionnow.org/learn/tiller |title=Donate Now |website=National Network of Abortion Funds |access-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610090417/http://www.fundabortionnow.org/learn/tiller |archive-date=June 10, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Tiller's murder was covered by and alluded to in film and television from 2013 documentary ''After Tiller'', which follows the lives of four other late-term abortion providers after Tiller's murder, to the anti-abortion movie ''Unplanned'' (2019).<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-movie-abortion-supporters-dont-want-you-to-see/2019/04/02/e6b829ca-5554-11e9-814f-e2f46684196e_story.html |title=Opinion {{!}} The movie abortion supporters don't want you to see |last=Thiessen |first=Marc |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en |access-date=May 28, 2019 |archive-date=May 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511023418/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-movie-abortion-supporters-dont-want-you-to-see/2019/04/02/e6b829ca-5554-11e9-814f-e2f46684196e_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It also inspired an episode of the television legal drama ''Law & Order'', "Dignity". In that episode, an anti-abortion activist murdered a doctor who performed late-term abortions in New York. The defense said it was a justifiable homicide, since the murderer did it to prevent the doctor from performing a late-term abortion on a specific woman; hence, he did it in defense of another human being. In the end, the jury decided that the defendant was guilty of murder in the first degree. The episode's reception was polarized: the anti-abortion blogosphere appreciated the episode's handling of the abortion issue as a whole,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/Oct09/nv102309.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026170712/http://www.nrlc.org//News_and_Views/Oct09/nv102309.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 26, 2009 |title="Law & Order's" Wholly Unexpected Treatment of Abortion Is Must-Watch Television |last=Andrusko |first=Dave |publisher=National Right to Life Committee |date=October 23, 2009 |access-date=January 19, 2013 }}</ref> while many pro-abortion rights sources condemned the episode.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.salon.com/2009/10/24/law_and_order_tiller/ |title=''Law & Order's'' anti-choice propaganda |last=Harding |first=Kate |work=Salon |date=October 25, 2009 |access-date=January 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118002408/http://www.salon.com/2009/10/24/law_and_order_tiller/ |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.msmagazine.com/Fall2009/dignity.asp |title=No Dignity For NBC |last=Kort |first=Michele |work=Ms. |access-date=January 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228005359/http://www.msmagazine.com/Fall2009/dignity.asp |archive-date=December 28, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/10/28/the-law-and-order-abortion-disaster-and-the-wasteland-tv |title=The "Law and Order" Abortion Disaster and The Wasteland of TV |last=Seltzer |first=Sarah |work=RH Reality Check |date=October 28, 2009 |access-date=January 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426051840/http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/10/28/the-law-and-order-abortion-disaster-and-the-wasteland-tv |archive-date=April 26, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == * [http://www.kansas.com/tiller More news coverage at Kansas.com/tiller] Stories, videos and photo galleries related to George Tiller and Scott Roeder, from ''The Wichita Eagle'' ALERT: LINK IS DEAD * [http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/abortion/kansas-roeder60209murder.html Criminal Complaint / Information] (The State of Kansas vs. Scott P. Roeder), FindLaw, June 2, 2009
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{{Assassinations in the United States}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiller, Murder Of George}} Category:2009 murders in the United States Category:Anti-abortion violence in the United States Category:Assassinations in the United States Category:Deaths by person in Kansas Category:History of Wichita, Kansas Category:Incidents of violence against men Category:Murder in Kansas Category:2009 in Kansas Category:Crimes in Kansas Category:May 2009 crimes in the United States Category:Incidents involving the sovereign citizen movement Category:Presidency of Barack Obama Category:Terrorist incidents in the United States in 2009 Category:Terrorist incidents in Kansas Category:Violence against men in the United States Category:Christian terrorist incidents in the 2010s Category:Church shootings in the United States