Posted on 12/05/2001 1:59:16 PM PST by ATOMIC_PUNK
Details emerging on Waagner's arrest
SPRINGDALE - A man suspected of sending hundreds of anthrax-letter hoaxes to abortion clinics was arrested today at Kinko's Copies, 11388 Princeton Pike.
Employees reported that Clayton Lee Waagner was logged onto a computer when a Kinko's worker recognized him from the FBI's Most Wanted posters and called federal marshals.
They arrived and arrested him. Marshals have said Mr. Waagner is an anti-abortion activist and his letters have not been associated with the Sept. 11 attacks.
On Wednesday afternoon, Martha Ray, 33, of West Chester, visited the Kinko's franchise with her two children - Sarah, 2, and Ryan, six months.
The arrest earlier was a reminder of how Sept. 11 changed the nation.
"I don't know why anybody would do something like that," Mrs. Ray said of Mr. Waagner's letters. "You just never know when it could happen. But you have to go on with your life as best you can."
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has called Mr. Waagner the primary suspect behind anthrax hoaxes committed against 280 abortion clinics last month.
Mr. Waagner, 45, allegedly claimed responsibility for the letters when he showed up with a gun at the Georgia home of an anti-abortion activist recently, authorities said.
Diane Rust, a branch manager at the Kinko's copy store in Springdale, confirmed that Mr. Waagner was arrested at the store.
Mr. Ashcroft noted Mr. Waagner's apprehension at installation ceremonies for Ben Reyna as new head of the U.S. Marshals Service.
A series of most-wanted-fugitive pictures was displayed at the ceremony, and Mr. Ashcroft said, "I'm pleased to say that, no sooner does Ben take over the U.S. Marshals Service…we can write across the face of that poster, 'Apprehended!'"
"Clayton Lee Waagner is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. You know something, in those good hands, I have to tell you, that the United States is a safer and more secure place. The battle against those who seek to inflict terror through hoaxes and threats is a battle that must be joined by all Americans."
Mr. Waagner had been on the lam since February, when he escaped from a jail in Clinton, Ill., where he was awaiting sentencing on federal firearms and auto theft convictions.
Mr. Waagner also was sought for bank robberies in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, firearms violations in Tennessee and carjacking in Mississippi.
Mr. Ashcroft and others in federal law enforcement have said they're vigorously pursuing people who send anthrax threats as hoaxes, promising they will aggressively prosecute such individuals. Such acts cost local, state and federal valuable time that could be used to investigate actual anthrax threats, Mr. Ashcroft said.
Mr. Waagner, who has vowed to kill abortion providers, was indicted by a grand jury on weapons and other charges in Memphis.
He was charged with possessing a destructive device, being a felon in possession of firearms and being a fugitive in possession of firearms.
Mr. Waagner abandoned a car on an interstate in Memphis after a Sept. 7 collision with a tractor-trailer, police said. A pipe bomb was found in the car.
Hours later, a man believed to be Mr. Waagner committed a carjacking in Tunica, Miss., some 40 miles southwest of Memphis, authorities said. A casino there was evacuated after a tip that he was there.
Mr. Waagner was armed with a rifle and a shotgun, according to the indictment.
Each of the five counts against him could result in a 10-year sentence and a $250,000 fine.
Police also had issued warrants for Mr. Waagner's arrest on charges of aggravated assault and auto theft.
Mr. Waagner escaped in February from a Clinton, Ill., jail where he was awaiting sentencing on federal firearms and auto theft convictions. He had been arrested in September 1999 after entering Illinois with his wife and eight children in a stolen Winnebago, which had four stolen handguns under the driver's seat, authorities said.
During his trial, Mr. Waagner testified that he had carried out surveillance on abortion clinics for months, stocking up on weapons after, he said, God asked him to "be my warrior" and kill doctors who provide abortions.
In June, abortion clinics were warned to be on alert after someone purporting to be Mr. Waagner posted an Internet message vowing to kill employees of abortion providers. He had never taken any direct acts against them, police said.
That same month, a federal grand jury charged Mr. Waagner with robbing a bank just outside Harrisburg, Pa., in May.
Hope he wasn't lurking around here.
Sad to say, "the law" has made legal the murder of 34,000,000 infants since 1973(Roe V. Wade).
Many people place collective blame on the German people for permitting the holocaust to happen.
What excuse will we have, especially considering we are "free" and a "democracy" for allowing the abortion holocaust to occur during our lifetime?
I totally agree with you. The Nazis who carried out the genocide of the Jews, didn't consider it murder, because Jews were considered by them to be "sub-human", in another words, not real people.
The abortionist and his supporters proclaim(and some probably do believe) the fetus is not a human being.
How do you change the mindset of a Nazi or an abortionist?
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You know what I have noticed? None of the anti-abortion crowd in here condemn this man. Hmmmmmm
I will say, however, that it is thought provoking that a person who mails "hoaxes" to "abortion clinics" reaches the level of "FBI 10 MOST WANTED."
Is this a genuflection to the "choice" crowd by that "radical right winger" Ashcroft and/or the Bush administration?
What abortion clinics did he send anthrax to and did he have the HIGH GRADE that was sent to the House and did he send it to the TV station?.......No TV here so be patient with wierd questions K! lol
Im totally anti abortion and i posted the article this guy is complete scum!!!!..... my veiws on abortion do not matter on this article the scumbag needs to hang period
I will say, however, that it is thought provoking that a person who mails "hoaxes" to "abortion clinics" reaches the level of "FBI 10 MOST WANTED."
Is this a genuflection to the "choice" crowd by that "radical right winger" Ashcroft and/or the Bush administration?
He was on the 10 most wanted list long before the Anthrax hoax letters. He was a violent bank robber who escaped. That's why he ended up on the most wanted list.
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