By Paul Vercammen and Holly Yan , Lovely face foundation
Story highlights
Suspect Robert Dear interrupts hearing
He could face the
Planned Parenthood CEO says "hateful rhetoric"
fuels violent incidents
Colorado Springs, Colorado (CNN)— Robert Lewis
Dear, accused of killing three people last month
at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado
Springs, Colorado, made a series of outbursts at
a hearing Wednesday, saying, "I am a warrior for
the babies."
On a day on which prosecutors filed 179 felony
charges against him, Dear, wearing an aqua
jumpsuit and leg irons, made his thoughts
known -- through nearly 20 interjections during
the proceeding.
"You'll never know what I saw in that clinic,"
Dear interrupted during one argument in the
motions hearing. "The atrocities. That's what
they want to seal. The babies."
At other times, he said, "I am guilty. There is no
trial," and "Protect the babies."
A bailiff sitting nearby several times placed a
hand on Dear's shoulder in an apparent attempt
to quell the disruptions.
When lawyers spoke about a listing of victims in
the incident, Dear, his facial expression framed
by a shock of hair, blurted out, "Could you add
the babies that were supposed to be aborted
that day? Could you add that to the list?"
Dear made reference to his public defender,
Daniel King, who also represented Colorado
theater shooter James Holmes: "Do you know
who this lawyer is? He is the lawyer for the
Batman shooter -- when they drugged him all up
and that's what they want to do to me."
While King told the court there were questions
about his client's competence, Dear said, "You
are not my lawyer."
After the tumultuous hearing, District Attorney
Dan May said the litany of charges against Dear,
57, included eight options of first-degree murder,
depending on the circumstances, and 131 counts
of attempted first-degree murder. Nine people
were wounded.
A preliminary hearing and arraignment are yet to
be scheduled. "I want everything as soon as
possible," Dear told the judge.
May said a decision on whether to seek the
death penalty would come within about two
months after the arraignment.
Dear is accused of killing a police officer and
two civilians in a shooting rampage on
November 27. The closely watched case has
already united even staunch opponents in the
abortion debate.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch called the
shooting a "crime against women receiving
health care services." Vicki Cowart, president of
Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains,
said she believes the shooter "was motivated by
opposition to safe and legal abortion ."
The shooting brought common ground between
Planned Parenthood's leadership and
conservative presidential candidate Mike
Huckabee : Both called it an act of terrorism.
"I think there's a lot of belief that this qualifies
as a form of domestic terrorism," Dawn Laguens,
Planned Parenthood's chief experience officer,
said.
Huckabee echoed that sentiment.
"What he did is domestic terrorism, and what he
did is absolutely abominable -- especially to us in
the pro-life movement, because there's nothing
about any of us that would condone or in any
way look the other way on something like this,"
Huckabee said .
Family a priority for those killed in Planned
Parenthood shooting
More about Planned Parenthood
A hermit's shanty
Dear apparently lived in solitude in the Carolinas,
then more recently in Colorado. He is believed to
have moved from North Carolina to Colorado
about a year ago, living in an RV on a vacant
piece of land.
Over a decade ago, he had some run-ins with the
law while living in South Carolina but was not
convicted.
In 1997, Dear's wife accused him of domestic
assault, although no charges were pressed,
according to records from the Colleton County
Sheriff's Office in South Carolina.
A brief history of anti-abortion violence
In 2002, Dear was charged with being a peeping
Tom; those counts were dismissed.
In 2003, he was arrested and charged with two
counts of animal cruelty, but he was found not
guilty at a bench trial.
He later made his home in a hermit shanty in the
mountains of North Carolina, CNN affiliate WLOS
reported. It published a photo of a small, basic
cabin in the woods of Buncombe County.
The Sheriff's Office there knew Dear from a
single civil citation issued in 2014 for allowing
his dogs to run wild.
Fear, horror, disbelief among witnesses
Planned Parenthood videos
Planned Parenthood has recently faced intense
political and social opposition.
Eight undercover videos released over the
summer by anti-abortion activists have stirred
caustic criticism against the reproductive health
services provider. The controversy has reached
the halls of Congress, where conservative
politicians have demanded the group's
defunding.
Planned Parenthood has said the videos, which
alleged illegal fetal organ sales, were heavily
edited and inaccurate.
At least three of the organization's buildings
have been vandalized since September, not long
after the last video appeared.
The violence and vandalism are troubling signs
that the language political leaders use could
have dangerous repercussions, Planned
Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards told CNN's
"AC360" on Monday.
"It is really disturbing to see the kind of hateful
rhetoric about Planned Parenthood, about the
women who come to us, about the doctors who
provide health care," she said. "It's very hard to
see these kinds of violent incidents that I think
sometimes this rhetoric fuels."
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