Stephen Jordi
Posted on 11/12/2003 7:18:47 PM PST by yonif
MIAMI - A man arrested on suspicion of plotting to bomb abortion clinics came "perilously close to carrying out his plans" after casing clinics, studying bomb-making and buying material that could be used in an attack, according to the FBI and court documents.
Stephen John Jordi, 35, was arrested Tuesday after agents arranged a meeting aboard a boat, FBI spokeswoman Beverly Esselbach said. He jumped overboard and was pulled from the ocean by the Coast Guard a half-hour later.
Jordi was in the final stages of planning imminent attacks, U.S. Attorney Marcos Jimenez said. A criminal complaint said Jordi cased several South Florida clinics and discussed bombing one in Macon, Ga.
On Tuesday, Jordi and an FBI source bought gasoline cans, flares, starter fluid and propane tanks _ including a large one filled with propane gas, the affidavit said. The source also provided Jordi a .45-caliber pistol, silencer and empty magazines in exchange for $200, the affidavit says. Jordi was arrested later that day.
The affidavit said Jordi had discussed with an FBI source possibly using C-4 plastic explosives, propane tank bombs or pipe bombs and had studied bombing methods throughout the fall.
"He was perilously close to carrying out his plans," Esselbach said.
Jordi was charged with solicitation to commit a crime of violence; distribution of information relating to making and using explosives for arson; and possession of an unregistered firearm or destructive device.
Jordi admired Paul Hill, who was executed Sept. 3 for killing an abortion doctor and his bodyguard outside a Pensacola clinic in 1994, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Schlesinger said. According to the affidavit, Jordi showed the FBI source a letter in which Hill thanked Jordi for his moral and financial support.
The affidavit also says Jordi, a former Army Ranger, hoped to be "on the run" like Eric Rudolph, who is charged with the Olympic park bombing and abortion clinic bombings. The affidavit said Jordi told an FBI source he expected to eventually be hunted by authorities: "As long as I keep hitting places ... they'll keep after me ... but like trying to catch a cockroach in a house ... they won't get me."
Jimenez said the arrest affidavit "makes clear that this is a dangerous person that has now been taken off the streets."
The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force had been investigating Jordi since August.
Esselbach said Jordi's Coconut Creek house was searched late Tuesday, but she would not comment Wednesday on what was found.
Jordi's brother, Michael Jordi, said by telephone Wednesday that he told the FBI of the plot after learning about it in July. He said he and his brother have a poor relationship, and called him mentally unstable. He said the allegations didn't surprise him.
"That's why we called the FBI. Where he's at (in custody) he needs to be," said Michael Jordi, a Bridgeport, Ala., resident. He refused to comment further.
Stephen Jordi was arrested in 2000 on an allegation of child abuse, but the case was dropped two months later.
Dwight Ward, Stephen Jordi's brother-in-law, said Wednesday he thought Jordi once mentioned to a relative that he might "do something to an abortion clinic." Ward said Jordi never specifically talked about blowing up clinics.
Jordi is "overzealous about the Lord," but not a violent person, Ward said.
Ward said that if the allegations were true, Jordi would only "try to destroy the clinic itself, if anything. He would have done it after hours and hope no one was in there.
"He was trying to discourage the act and not the people behind it."
A woman who answered the phone at Jordi's address Wednesday confirmed that it was his home, but said she did not want to speak to reporters. A message left with Jordi's public defender was not returned.
Hill was the first person put to death in the United States for anti-abortion violence, and abortion rights activists warned that his execution could lead to reprisals from extremists.
Mona Reis, director of Presidential Women's Center in West Palm Beach, said clinics have been on heightened alert since Hill's execution.
This fall also represents the five-year anniversary of the shooting death of Dr. Barnett Slepian by an anti-abortion activist in suburban Buffalo, N.Y.
Jordi is "overzealous about the Lord,"
Nice juxtaposition of those two statements. Let me read between the lines and take a whack at the message:
George Bush and the Republicans are on the attack against a WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE, and they've brought the Christian kooks out to force women back into the DARK AGES.
...Did I do okay?
This, along with a relatives statement about Jordi being mentally unstable, makes me wonder if the FBI just saw an easy setup to get a slam dunk conviction on someones personel record. I'm wondering if the whole episode might have been engineered by the FBI? Was he actually making plans before the FBI got involved? Nobody will ever actually know, of course.
Federal prosecutor John Schlesinger said Wednesday that the bureau used a confidential informant known for getting close to suspects as bait. On Aug. 17, the informant -- posing as a former police officer with strong views against abortion and gays -- chatted up Jordi after a church service in Pompano Beach.Jordi opened up, telling the informant that he believed bombing clinics was appropriate.
Over a meal later at a Denny's Restaurant in Deerfield Beach, Jordi discussed with the informant the possibility of blowing up clinics, ''apostate'' churches -- a reference to churches that he felt weren't doing enough to prevent abortions -- and gay bars.
''I don't have the means to kill abortion doctors, but I do have the means to bomb clinics,'' Jordi said, according to a secretly taped conversation. ``Maybe that way I can dissuade other doctors from performing abortions.''
Days later, Jordi and the informant surveilled several unidentified South Florida abortion clinics, cataloging the security, entry points and places to leave explosives, dynamite or flammable objects.
[snip]
Plans seemed to be jelling on Oct. 27, when Jordi and the informant both swore on a Bible that neither was a ''fed.'' The witness: Jordi's pregnant wife. Later, they discussed targeting a clinic in Macon, Ga.On Tuesday, Jordi and the informant met at the Denny's in Deerfield Beach.
They hopped into Jordi's 1988 Ford Aerostar van and went shopping, purchasing two 5-gallon gas cans from a Home Depot; flares and starter fluid from an auto parts store; and propane tanks from Outdoor World in Dania Beach and another Home Depot.
They filled the gas cans at a Shell station on South Beach, and got a $200 money order at a Publix market, which Jordi used to pay the informant for a .45-caliber Springfield pistol with a silencer. After closing the deal for the silencer, the informant left the boat and FBI agents went to grab Jordi.
Gay bars and churches that support abortion rights were on Jordi's list of targets, prosecutors said."Jordi was in the final stages of planning his violent acts," said Frank Figliuzzi, the FBI's special agent in charge of homeland security. "He was clearly not pleased that his plan to be just like Eric Rudolph and Paul Hill was interrupted." Rudolph is on trial for a 1998 abortion clinic bombing in Birmingham, Ala.
"Stephen Jordi cased some clinics in Broward County, videotaped access points, entry points to those clinics," said Assistant U.S. Attorney John Schlesinger.
This, along with a relatives statement about Jordi being mentally unstable, makes me wonder if the FBI just saw an easy setup to get a slam dunk conviction on someones personel record. I’m wondering if the whole episode might have been engineered by the FBI? Was he actually making plans before the FBI got involved? Nobody will ever actually know, of course.
As his wife at the time.. He was not mentally unstable. I believe in hindsight, he was trying to see how far he could get. He wasn’t going to do anything till our kids were grown. And YES The FBI encouraged him, and wanted to make an example. He wasn’t making any plans, he just talked against abortion. Unfortunately, he talked to his dad, and brothers, and they called the FBI.
There were NO PLANS until after the FBI “informant’ encouraged him to make plans.
So now you know!
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