On the Tiller Case and Law Enforcement Priorities
An interesting development in the Tiller case from today's Democracy Now: Evidently, the suspect had been caught gluing the doors of Tiller's clinic (which is not just a misdemeanor act of vandalism but a federal crime), twice in 2000 (after which a conversation with an FBI agent evidently dissuaded the guy, at least for a while), and twice in 2009 (on Memorial Day and on May 30, the day before Tiller's murder). The last time, the guy was caught red-handed by one of the clinic nurses, who took down his license plate number before he could flee.
The Democracy Now episode questions whether the murder could have been prevented had authorities moved more quickly. But there is, IMO, a more interesting question, which they didn't ask: Did the knowledge of his impending arrest and possible imprisonment prompt the suspect to act on his plans? I hope that this is something law enforcement would consider when evaluating the potential danger of an ideologically motivated criminal, whether they know that they are about to be caught, and whether that might prompt them to escalate their crimes more quickly than might otherwise be expected.
The Democracy Now episode questions whether the murder could have been prevented had authorities moved more quickly. But there is, IMO, a more interesting question, which they didn't ask: Did the knowledge of his impending arrest and possible imprisonment prompt the suspect to act on his plans? I hope that this is something law enforcement would consider when evaluating the potential danger of an ideologically motivated criminal, whether they know that they are about to be caught, and whether that might prompt them to escalate their crimes more quickly than might otherwise be expected.