Page 178 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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154———Griffin, Michael (1962– )

The Grey Wolves continued on the path of violence. to clinics throughout Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.
A former Grey Wolf member tried to assassinate In 1992, he was featured on a “Wanted” poster circu-
Pope John Paul II in 1981; neither his motivation nor lated at an Operation Rescue antiabortion rally in
possible state sponsorship of the assassination attempt Montgomery, Alabama.
were ever fully clarified. The Grey Wolves were linked The Sunday before the murder, Griffin, then a
to an attempted assassination of the Turkish prime 31-year-old chemical plant employee, asked the con-
minister in 1988 and to a series of ethnic killings in gregation at his fundamentalist church, Charity
Turkey in the early 1990s. The Grey Wolves have been Chapel, to pray for Dr. Gunn. Griffin and his wife,
accused of inciting violence within Cypriot, German, Patricia, had recently become active in the antiabortion
and English Turkish expatriate communities during movement, joining the antiabortion group Our Father’s
the 1990s. House, led by John Burt, who also headed Rescue
The extent of the Turkish government’s connec- America. Burt encouraged the Griffins’ activism,
tion to and sanctioning of the Grey Wolves’ activities showing them videos of aborted fetuses and urging
remains unclear, although rumors abound. In 1999, him and his wife to attend protests. Allegedly, Michael
a resurgent MHP (with a new, pro-Islam stance) Griffin also saw an effigy of Dr. Gunn hanging from a
gained 18 percent of the vote in the Turkish parlia- rafter in Burt’s garage, bearing a quote from Genesis
mentary elections, winning a place in a coalition 9:6—“Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his
government. blood be shed.”
Immediately after shooting Dr. Gunn, Griffin
Further Reading approached a nearby police officer and turned himself
in. As news spread, activists on both sides of the abor-
“Going Wolfish.” The Economist, June 12, 1999.
Lee, Martin A. “Turkish Dirty War Revealed, but Papal tion debate decried Griffin and his actions. However,
Shooting Still Obscured.” Los Angeles Times, April 12, a small contingent of antiabortion activists justified
1998, M2. the murder; most vocally—former Presbyterian
Solakov, Stefan. The Wolves of Terror. Trans. by Mark Cole. minister Paul Hill. In July 1993, Hill drafted a “Defen-
Sofia, Bulgaria: Sofia Press, 1986. sive Action Statement,” signed by 29 antiabortion
Vulliamy, Ed. “Wolves on the Doorstep.” The Guardian, activists, that read, “We assert that if Michael Griffin
December 19, 1995, T4. did in fact kill David Gunn, his use of lethal force was
justifiable provided it was carried out for the purpose
of defending the lives of unborn children.”
GRIFFIN, MICHAEL (1962– ) Griffin was held, without bond, at the Escambia
County jail and courthouse, on an open murder count.
At his trial, Griffin’s lawyers presented an insanity
In 1993, in the midst of an increasingly violent defense, suggesting that antiabortion propaganda
antiabortion movement in the United States, Michael caused Griffin to lose his sense of right and wrong—
Frederick Griffin became the first activist to murder a defense that was ultimately not allowed because
an abortion provider, ushering in a new level of ter- Griffin refused psychiatric examinations. On the
rorism in the abortion wars. opening day of trial, February 21, 1994, the judge
Shortly after 10 A.M. on March 10, 1993, Dr. David announced that Griffin would not receive the death
Gunn arrived at the Pensacola Women’s Medical penalty. In March, Griffin was found guilty of first-
Services clinic. Protestors from the antiabortion group degree murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison
Rescue America had been gathered outside the clinic with no chance for parole for 25 years.
since 9 A.M. As Dr. Gunn moved past the crowd, Griffin By 1995, Griffin had denounced antiabortion
shot him three times in the back with a .38 caliber gun, violence, claiming that a conspiracy of antiabortion
shouting repeatedly, “Don’t kill any more babies.” groups, police officers, and his own defense team had
Dr. Gunn, then 47, was rushed to a hospital, where he framed him. Antiabortion groups, in turn, denounced
died hours later. Griffin as mentally instable. Regrettably, his actions
Gunn knew he was a target. Aside from being the had already inspired more violence within the move-
only individual providing legal abortions in the ment, inciting others, including Rachelle Shannon,
region, Gunn traveled more than 1,000 miles weekly Paul Hill, and John Salvi III, to murder.