FBI Memo . . . Violence Against Pro-Lifers Expected Around The Election

By STEVEN ERTELT and MICAIAH BILGER

WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeNews) — A new FBI memo indicates pro-life Americans should expect possible pro-abortion violence from radical leftists around the elections. That could especially be the case if pro-life Republicans win decisively in a red wave, as is expected.
On Friday, October 28 a federal joint law enforcement memo including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security was leaked to members of the press. The memo warns of heightened domestic violent extremism around the midterm election.
The bulletin is quoted as saying, “. . . levied violent threats targeting elected officials, individuals associated with abortion or LGBTQ+ issues, and facilities, locations, and organizations perceived as taking a stance on abortion or LGBTQ+ issues.”
Jim Harden, who runs the CompassCare pregnancy center in Buffalo that was firebombed over the summer, says the Biden administration is failing to protect pro-life Americans and prosecute the 160+ cases of pro-abortion violence this year.
He worries that pro-abortion violent extremism mentioned by the joint law enforcement memo is worse than the virtually dormant federal law enforcement agencies are letting on — saying that not only have they failed to notify pro-life groups of the danger, but they are likely failing to pro-actively thwart any attacks if past performance is any indicator.
Harden believes the current hostile atmosphere targeting peaceful pro-life people is not only being tolerated but promoted. This environment ripens the ostensibly forbidden fruit of violence against pro-life organizations, no matter the outcome of the election. If the election leans toward pro-life candidates, pro-abortion extremists will become more aggressive and may attempt to one-up their arson by fulfilling their death threats. On the other hand, if the election tips in favor of pro-abortion candidates, the recent collusion of government bad actors, big tech, and law enforcement persecuting all public pro-life activity will be shown as just the tip of the iceberg.
Rev. Harden said, “It seems to me the vast majority of the electorate do not favor the brutality and destruction used to silence their pro-life neighbors. That is not the America they remember or want for their children’s future. But it does seem odd that while pro-life organizations like CompassCare have been the target of so much violence that we had to hear about the increased threats via a memo never intended for us. The FBI has not called to warn us. If they really are trying to uncover the identity of these domestic terrorists, their lack of communication regarding the increased threats may appear like they are using pro-life people as bait to garner more evidence.”
Rev. Harden went on to say, “I believe pro-abortion politicians in control of the Democratic Party are not as much afraid for the future of democracy in America as much as they are afraid that the results of November 8 will not bode well for their future exiled from politics, since that exile may be spent in prison for conspiring to deprive pro-life citizens of their rights.”
A new study from the Crime Prevention Research Center confirms that pro-life advocates have become a huge target of political violence, suffering more than 22 times as many attacks as abortion activists since May.
Between May 3 and September 24, pro-life advocates and organizations have been shot, firebombed, vandalized, stolen from and threatened in at least 135 attacks, the research group found. In contrast, researchers found only six crime reports targeting abortion activists and pro-abortion groups in the same period.
Dr. John Lott, president and founder of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), said the mainstream media portray the situation as opposite, but researchers could not find data to support the claim.
“The overwhelming narrative in the media is the claim those on the right are responsible for most of the politically motivated violence in the U.S.,” said Lott, who has taught at Yale, Stanford, and other prestigious universities. “The media have uncritically accepted pro-choice claims of violence without asking for a list of cases.”
According to the new study, its numbers came from local and national news reports and the U.S. Department of Justice, which “keeps an up-to-date list of recent violence cases against reproductive health-care providers.” The department list includes only one report: a case of property damage against a Planned Parenthood facility in July. It does not keep track of attacks on pro-life organizations.
Researchers also contacted the DC Abortion Fund and the National Abortion Federation (NAF), which publishes an annual report about violence and harassment against abortion providers, but they did not receive a response to multiple requests for information.
According to an October 3 report in The Daily Beast, NAF reported double the number of “arson, vandalism, blockades, bomb threats, and death threats” against pro-abortion groups in May through August of this year compared to the same time last year.
Researchers with CPRC said they contacted NAF at least seven times by phone and email to ask about these reports but never received a response. One research associate also contacted the author of The Daily Beast article, Decca Muldowney, who said “she also didn’t see a list from the NAF, though it doesn’t appear she asked for it.”
According to the study, CPRC researchers compiled their list of attacks based on regular online searches for phrases such as “anti-abortion attacks,” “attacks on abortion providers,” “violence to abortion clinic,” “pro-abortion attacks,” and “attacks on pregnancy centers.”
The study includes a list of all the attacks, including locations, dates, and links to news reports.
Lott said the news media have been spreading a “false narrative” about pro-life violence while accepting at face value abortion activists’ claims. He also faulted the Biden administration for ignoring the growing violence against pro-life advocates.
“Despite so much more violence against pro-life advocates, the Biden administration’s sole focus on the very rare violence against pro-choice providers ignores what appears to be a much more prevalent problem,” he said in a statement to LifeNews.com.
Pro-abortion groups also have been caught vastly exaggerating violence against them in the past. In court proceedings in 2019, the Life Legal Defense Foundation discovered that Planned Parenthood lists as “harassment” letters that it receives from people who simply write “Jesus loves you” or “Our church is praying for you” to abortion workers.
Pro-life advocates have suffered a massive wave of violence since May when someone leaked a draft of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade. Since the leak, LifeNews and other conservative news outlets have reported more than 160 attacks on pro-life organizations, individuals and churches.
According to The Daily Signal, 86 Catholic churches and 74 pro-life organizations have been victims of firebombs, vandalism, and other attacks since then. An elderly pro-life woman was shot while canvassing in September in Michigan, and LifeNews just learned about an elderly pro-life man who was hospitalized for four days after being attacked in October outside a Planned Parenthood in California.
Many pro-life organizations are increasing security and Republican lawmakers are demanding action from the Biden administration to crack down on the growing pro-abortion domestic terrorism. But, while the Biden administration has been aggressively working to expand the killing of unborn babies in abortions, it has done little to stop the violence directed at pro-life advocates and churches.
In September, Cong. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R., Washington) and Chris Smith (R., New Jersey) introduced the Protect Pregnancy Care Centers Act to require the Biden administration to publicly disclose how it is handling the investigation and prosecution of pro-abortion activists who attack pro-life organizations and churches.
Notably, U.S. House Democrats blocked a resolution in July condemning the violence.