A material witness warrant
has been issued for Eric Robert Rudolph, a 31-year-old white male from
Marble, N.C., U.S. Attorney Doug Jones said. He stressed Rudolph was only
wanted as a witness, not a suspect.
An off-duty policeman guarding
the New Woman, All Women Health Care clinic near downtown Birmingham was
killed and a nurse was critically wounded by the explosion of a homemade
bomb Jan. 29.
Rudolph's grey Nissan truck
was seen near the clinic, Jones said. "The investigators have not jumped
to any conclusions. The media should not jump to any conclusions," Jones
said. "(The truck) was seen in the proximity around the explosion site.
We want to talk to Mr. Rudolph about the truck."
"We are looking for Mr. Rudolph
only as a material witness," added Joe Lewis, special agent in charge of
the FBI in Birmingham.
Placed near entrance
The homemade bomb was placed
a few feet in front of the clinic entrance, investigators said.
Clinic owner Diane Derzis
said police officer Robert Sanderson was killed as he escorted nurse Emily
Lyons to the front door to open the clinic.
Lyons remained in hospital
in intensive care Jan. 30, recovering from severe leg, abdominal and facial
injuries. Doctors said she has lost sight in one eye.
Derzis said the clinic, which
advertises that it offers to abort fetuses up to 22 weeks after conception,
would continue to operate. "As soon as they finish the crime scene, we
will reopen," she said.
James Cavanaugh, agent in
charge of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) office
in Birmingham, said the bomb was packed with nails, but gave no further
details.
"We do feel confident that
we will be able to reconstruct to some degree the explosive device," Cavanaugh
said. "We have had a very aggressive, thorough and indeed microscopic examination
of the crime scene."
Federal authorities called
in experts who have been trying to solve three bombings that have occurred
in Atlanta, including one at a women's health clinic Jan. 16, 1997 that
injured seven people.
Investigators have said that
last year's bombing of a gay nightclub in Atlanta and the explosion that
killed two people and injured 111 others during the Olympics July 27, 1996,
were probably linked to the Atlanta clinic bombing.
‘Too early'
"It's too early to make determinations
on whether this device is connected to that or any other device," Cavanaugh
said. "It would be speculation, at best."
Meanwhile, the National Coalition
for Life and Peace, a nationwide coalition of pro-life organizations and
individuals that oppose abortion-related violence, expressed its unequivocal
condemnation of a bombing at the Birmingham, Ala. abortion facility.
"First and foremost, our
thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of this explosion.
At this time it is not known who was responsible. Regardless, the pro-life
movement once again condemns in the strongest of terms this act of abortion-related
violence, as it has on every previous occasion. Abortion-related violence
has no place in the right-to-life movement or our country and pro-life
people will continue to only engage in peaceful, legal activities which
will protect life," co-ordinator Steven Ertelt commented.
Sally Winn, co-director of
Women and Children First, added, "We express our deepest sympathy for the
families of the officer whose life was lost and those who suffered injuries
in this explosion."
Ertelt continued, "We who
support the right-to-life disagree with abortion advocates on the legalization
of abortion on demand. But this is one point where we find common ground;
namely, our deep-felt conviction that violence related to abortion is always
wrong."
The National Coalition for
Life and Peace has worked through the Internet to unite pro-life organizations
and individuals around the pro-life movement's historical condemnation
of abortion-related violence.
Pro-life persons are able
to sign a pledge which indicates, "As a pro-life person I affirm, with
all alacrity and fervor, my unequivocal opposition to and condemnation
of violence."
-- Pro-Life E News Canada
