Theodore Shulman is an American abortion-rights activist who threatened anti-abortion activists with violence. He proclaimed himself the "first pro-choice terrorist".

Threats and arrest

Shulman had threatened many prominent leaders of the

United States anti-abortion movement The United States anti-abortion movement (also called the pro-life movement or right-to-life movement) contains elements opposing induced abortion on both moral and religious grounds and supports its legal prohibition or restriction. Advocates ...

with physical harm or death, including:

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

professor

Robert P. George Robert Peter George (born July 10, 1955) is an American legal scholar, political philosopher, and public intellectual who serves as the sixth McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and ...

; the National Director of

Priests for Life Priests for Life (PFL) is an anti-abortion organization based in Titusville, Florida. PFL functions as a network to promote and coordinate anti-abortion activism, especially among Roman Catholic priests and laymen, with the primary strategic goa ...

, Fr.

Frank Pavone Frank Anthony Pavone (born February 4, 1959) is an American anti-abortion activist and laicized Catholic priest. He is the national director of Priests for Life (PFL) and the chairman and pastoral director of its Rachel's Vineyard project. He i ...

; Operation Rescue advisor,

Cheryl Sullenger Cheryl Deann Sullenger (born 1955) is an American anti-abortion activist and felon. Sullenger is the senior vice president for Kansas-based Operation Rescue, an organization that works to oppose abortion and to document legal violations by aborti ...

; and anti-abortion activists

Jill Stanek Jill Stanek (born 1956) is an American anti-abortion activist and nurse from Illinois best known for saying " live birth abortions" were being performed at Christ Hospital in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn and the premature infants were bein ...

and Gerard Nadal. Shulman made his threats over the phone and Internet throughout the 2000s and early 2010s. In the incidents that led to his arrest and indictment, Shulman made threats in 2009, 2010 and 2011 in a voicemail, in the comments section of the website of the

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

and philosophical journal ''

First Things ''First Things'' (''FT'') is an ecumenical and conservative religious journal aimed at "advanc nga religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The magazine, which focuses on theology, liturgy, church history, religio ...

'', on the website "PriestsForLife.org" and on the blog "RealChoice." Shulman never explicitly said that ''he'' would kill the targets—although he sometimes came very close. Shulman's threats led to an investigation by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

, the

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

. Shulman was in the possession of the toxins

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

castor beans ''Ricinus communis'', the castor bean or castor oil plant, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the Euphorbia, spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus, ''Ricinus'', and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolu ...

and rosary peas at the time of his arrest by the

in February 2011.

Conviction

Shulman was indicted on six criminal counts in connection with his threats against George and Pavone. As part of a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

, Shulman pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting a threat to injure another person, in that he wrote on the ''

'' website, "If Roeder is acquitted f_killing_Wichita_abortion_doctor_George_Tiller.html" ;"title="George_Tiller.html" ;"title="f killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller">f killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller">George_Tiller.html" ;"title="f killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller">f killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller someone will respond by killing [George] of [Princeton University] and [Pavone] of PRIESTS FOR LIFE." Shulman was sentenced by Federal Judge Paul A. Crotty to 41 months' imprisonment and 3 years'

supervised release Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

. As part of the plea deal, Shulman's sentence was at the low end of the sentencing guidelines, and he did not face weapons charges for possession of the

and rosary peas. He was released from prison in October 2014.

References

External links

Press release
from the

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shulman, Theodore 21st-century American criminals American abortion-rights activists 1961 births Living people Terrorism in the United States Political violence in the United States Crimes in New York City American prisoners and detainees Abortion-rights violence Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government