LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY einatlanta)

The big news in Atlanta this morning: Eric Rudolph is taunting his vicitms from his Supermax jail cell. Rudolph was convicted of the Olympic bombing here in town, plus bombing several abortion clinics. Many people in Georgia think he should have gotten the death sentence, but his trial was conducted in Alabama, and he was only given life.

Eric still belives that anyone helping abortion doctors should die, and has nothing but contempt for his victims. He still enjoys the support of many a fanatic. The local articles require log-ins, so behind the cut is the AP story copied from a free source. Our local news has been running interviews with lawyers who are trying to pass laws similar to those restricting criminals from keeping photos of their victims in cells. The lawyers want Rudolph's missives from jail to stop.

As of earlier this morning, if you looked on the Army of God website, you could find his supporter reading out Rudolph's letters. I can't bring myself to link to the videos, but they're out there.



Rudolph taunts victims from prison
by Jay Reeves, the Associated Press
published May 15, 2007 12:15 am

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Victims of Eric Rudolph, the anti-abortion extremist who pulled off a series of bombings across the South, say he is taunting them from deep within the nation’s most secure federal prison, and authorities say there is little they can do to stop him.

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Rudolph, who pleaded guilty in deadly bombings at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and a Birmingham abortion clinic, is serving life in prison at the “Supermax” penitentiary in Florence, Colo. Rudolph was captured in 2003, after a five-year manhunt, while scavenging for food behind a grocery store in Murphy, N.C.

Housed in the most secure part of the prison, he has no computer and little contact with the outside world aside from writing letters.

But Rudolph’s long essays have been posted on the Internet by a supporter who maintains an Army of God Web site. The Army of God is the same loose-knit group that Rudolph claimed to represent in letters sent after the blasts.

In one piece, Rudolph seeks to justify violence against abortion clinics by arguing that Jesus would condone “militant action in defense of the innocent.”

In another essay about his sentencing, Rudolph mocks former abortion clinic nurse Emily Lyons, who was nearly killed in the 1998 bombing in Birmingham, and her husband, Jeff. He uses pseudonyms rather than naming the couple, but there is no doubt he is describing them.

Rudolph recalls how Emily Lyons, in court, described the pain of her injuries and made an obscene gesture at Rudolph as she showed off a finger mangled by the blast. Rudolph writes: “It was a great speech and one that the denizens of freedom should be proud to enshrine in a museum somewhere. Perhaps they could put it next to MLKs “I Have a Dream.’ They could call it “I Have a Middle Finger.”‘

Jeff Lyons said he doesn’t often look at the Web site, which has had some items posted for nearly two years. But he said he is worried that Rudolph’s messages could incite someone to violence against abortion providers.

“He’s still sending out harassing communication. He’s still hurting us,” Lyons said.

Diane Derzis, who owns the Birmingham clinic that was bombed, killing a police officer, said someone should stop Rudolph.

Bureau of Prisons regulations give wardens the right to reject correspondence by an inmate for “the protection of the public, or if it might facilitate criminal activity.” That includes material “which may lead to the use of physical violence.”