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““Nebraskans deserve to be free from the threat of politically motivated terror. These threats against churches and pro-life students at their schools need to be investigated with every resource possible.”
–STATE SEN. DAVE MURMAN
Jane’s Revenge, a pro-abortion terrorist group that has taken credit for firebombing at least two crisis pregnancy centers, left notes at a church and a Catholic life center in Nebraska threatening extreme violence over an effort to ban abortion in the City of Bellevue.
The group Students for Life was meeting at the John Paul II Newman Center in Omaha on Saturday when a threat was taped to the door. Organization president Kristan Hawkins released a photo of the threat, which read:
“If our right to abortion in Bellevue is taken away due to the attempt to pass an abortion ban and its [sic] gets passed we will shoot up your Newman Center with our new AR-14 rifles. Sincerely, Jane’s revenge.”
Hawkins said that the group was holding its Political Leadership Workshop to use the Campaign for Abortion Free Cities to shut down the late-term abortion facility in the state. “We have called the police and are scrambling to make it safe,” she tweeted.
Rev. Dan Andrews, director of the Newman Center, said, “This obviously causes us great concern. Our number one priority is the safety of our students. We are thankful for UNO Police’s prompt response and attention to this threat.”
Later that day, another threat was found at Christ Community Church. The church released a message to members, saying, “Friends, earlier today, CCC staff found a threatening note taped to an outside door at CCC. The note claims to be from the abortion rights extremist group, Jane’s Revenge, and makes threats against our Lead Minister and the church relating to an abortion policy discussion taking place in the City of Bellevue.”
The Omaha Police Department is investigating the threats and is in contact with the FBI.
State Sen. Dave Murman, R, said in a statement:
“Nebraskans deserve to be free from the threat of politically motivated terror. These threats against churches and pro-life students at their schools need to be investigated with every resource possible. We should all pray for law enforcement as they carry out this investigation and continue to pray for an end to abortion in our state and across the world.”
Gov. Pete Ricketts, R, criticized the Department of Justice, tweeting, “Since May, pregnancy resource centers and pro-life organizations have been threatened, vandalized, and even firebombed with Molotov cocktails. It’s domestic terrorism, plain and simple.”
He added: “To-date, @JoeBiden’s DOJ has failed to prosecute a single one of these attacks. Instead, they’re busy going after parents who attend school board meetings. The DOJ must begin holding those threatening and attacking pro-life organizations accountable.”
The DOJ has not arrested anyone in connection with the more than 100 attacks on churches and pregnancy resource centers and has also not released an accurate number of those attacks. The Crime Prevention Research Center found that there were 135 attacks on pro-life groups between May 3 and Sept. 24. Catholic Vote trackers says 98 Catholic churches have been attacked since the release of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24, while 76 pregnancy resource centers and other pro-life groups have been attacked. LifeNews has counted 10 arson or attempted arson attacks and more than 150 other attacks.
Last month, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was allegedly told that the DOJ had said these attacks could be prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
Thomas Grenchik, executive director of the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-life Activities, stated, “The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has a task force dedicated to enforcing the FACE Act. Recently, the director of the task force reached out to the USCCB regarding the ongoing attacks on pregnancy resource centers.”
He said, “The director conveyed that it is DOJ’s position that these attacks can be prosecuted under the FACE Act. He asked for our assistance in letting pregnancy resource centers know that the FACE Act protects them, and in encouraging pregnancy resource centers to report these attacks to federal law enforcement.”
The DOJ has not released any information on plans to prosecute any of those guilty of the attacks. The DOJ has charged at least 26 pro-life individuals under the FACE Act this year.
The threat may be credible — or it could be a hoax or an intimidation tactic. The threat claims they would use their “new” AR-14 rifles, but the AR-14 rifle is not something that’s commercially available (this is a type of gun, but it was an early rudimentary design that predated the highly popular AR-15 semi-automatic rifle).
Either way, churches and crisis pregnancy centers have been attacked for months now, so this is highly concerning. That’s especially so since the DOJ doesn’t appear to be serious about trying to figure out which people or groups are carrying out these attacks. Instead, the DOJ has spent its time going after parents at school board meetings and pro-lifers peacefully praying and singing hymns at abortion clinics. If the DOJ is truly a law enforcement agency that works for all of the American people, it needs to apply equal justice under the law and investigate all crimes, regardless of the ideology of those involved.
When Moses led the Israelites, he appointed leaders to hear cases. In Deuteronomy 1:16-17, Moses reminded the people of the charge he gave to the judges:
“At that time I charged your judges: ‘Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident. Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.’”
The DOJ should heed that instruction. They must stop showing favoritism and do everything they can to find those responsible and thwart future attacks. Because the reality is that the more law enforcement ignores or minimizes this political terror, the more likely the perpetrators will feel emboldened to do more — and more extreme — violence.
Ready to dive deeper into the intersection of faith and policy? Head over to our Theology of Politics series page where we’ve published several long-form pieces that will help Christians navigate where their faith should direct them on political issues.
