Army of God (AOG) is an American

Christian terrorist Christian terrorism, a form of religious terrorism, comprises terrorist acts which are committed by groups or individuals who profess Christian motivations or goals. Christian terrorists justify their violent tactics through their interpretat ...

organization, members of which have perpetrated anti-abortion violence. According to the

Department of Justice 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 ...

and

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

's joint Terrorism Knowledge Base, the Army of God is an active underground terrorist organization in the United States. In addition to numerous

property crime Property crime is a category of crime, usually involving private property, that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime is a crime to obtain money, property, o ...

s, the group has committed acts of

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven y ...

, and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

. The AOG was formed in 1982 and, while sharing a common ideology and tactics, the group's members claim that they rarely communicate with each other; this is known more formally as

leaderless resistance Leaderless resistance, or phantom cell structure, is a social resistance strategy in which small, independent groups ( covert cells), or individuals (a solo cell is called a " lone wolf"), challenge an established institution such as a law, econo ...

. The group forbids those who wish to "take action against babykilling abortionists" from discussing their plans with anyone in advance.

Actions

The earliest documented incidence of the Army of God being involved with anti-abortion activity occurred in 1982. Three men stating that they were the "Army Of God" kidnapped Hector Zevallos, a doctor who performed abortions, and his wife, Dr. Rosalee Jean, and held them hostage. The hostages were later released unharmed after eight days.Baird-Windle, Patricia & Bader, Eleanor J., (2001), ''Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism'', New York, St. Martin's Press, The "East Coast division" of the AOG claimed responsibility when three men, including Michael Bray, planted bombs at seven abortion clinics in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. in 1985. In 1993, Shelly Shannon, a very active member of the Army of God, was found guilty of the attempted murder of

George Tiller George Richard Tiller (August 8, 1941 – May 31, 2009) was an American physician from Wichita, Kansas. He gained national attention as the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, which was one of only three abortion clinics nationwide ...

and sentenced to eleven years in prison. The following year, Shannon was sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison on charges of arson, interference with commerce by force and interstate travel in aid of racketeering in connection to her participation in several fires and acid attacks on abortion clinics. She was released in 2018. George Tiller was later assassinated in 2009 by Scott Roeder during a Sunday church service. Roeder admired Shannon greatly and had visited her many times while she was in prison. That same year, law enforcement officials found the ''Army of God Manual'', a tactical guide to arson, chemical attacks, invasions and bombings buried in Shelly Shannon's backyard.

Paul Jennings Hill Paul Jennings Hill (February 6, 1954 – September 3, 2003) was an American minister and anti-abortion terrorist who murdered physician John Britton and Britton's bodyguard, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Barrett, in 1994. Hill was ...

was found guilty of the murder of both John Britton and clinic escort James Barrett. The AOG claimed responsibility for

Eric Robert Rudolph Eric Robert Rudolph (born September 19, 1966), also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, is an American domestic terrorist convicted for a series of bombings across the southern United States between 1996 and 1998, which killed two people and inju ...

's 1997 nail bombing of abortion clinics in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

as well as an Atlanta lesbian bar. The group is also responsible for sending a death threat via letter to former Supreme Court Justice

Harry Blackmun Harry Andrew Blackmun (November 12, 1908 – March 4, 1999) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1994. Appointed by Republican President Richard Nixon, Black ...

, who wrote the majority opinion for ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...

''.

Clayton Waagner Clayton Lee Waagner (born August 25, 1956) is a convicted bank robber and anti-abortion terrorist. He was born Roger Waagner in North Dakota. He was an escaped fugitive during the spring, summer and fall of 2001 and was the FBI's 467th fugitive ...

, claiming to act on the part of the "Virginia Dare Chapter" of the AOG, mailed over 500 letters containing white powder to 280 abortion providers in 2001. The letters claimed that the powder was

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The s ...

. Though it was not identified as such, the tactic took advantage of the public's fear of

biological warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. ...

after the recent real anthrax attacks. Waagner is a known criminal who utilized a number of aliases to elude police throughout his criminal history. The mailing of the letters suspected to have been filled with anthrax was done after he escaped from Dewitt County Jail in Clinton, Illinois where he was being held prior to sentencing for previously committed crimes. The group is also associated with a number of other abortion clinic bombings, arsons and murders of abortion providers. Some of those responsible claimed association with the AOG; in other cases, while the killers expressed no affiliation with the group, the AOG has endorsed their acts and taken up their cause, stating that any action which prevents abortion is justified. Hill was head of a precursor organization called Defensive Action, which issued signed statements to members of Congress in the early 1990s expressing similar sentiments about "killing the killers". According to the Global Terrorism Database, the group only ever managed to officially inflict one fatality, police officer Robert Sanderson, during their 1998 attack at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. However, individual members of the group were known and convicted killers. This includes Paul Hill who not only committed shootings of abortion providers himself but even went so far as to appear on ABC's ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the prog ...

'' to justify shootings carried out by other anti-abortionists.

Army of God Manual

The Army of God Manual is an anonymous document which was written by anti-abortionist members of the AOG and it is widely endorsed by them. According to the AOG website, the manual "is not to be construed as sanctioning any group or individual to perform any action.” The book, which consists of eight chapters and various appendices, delves into various pillars of their

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

and it is essentially a road map on how to commit violence against abortion clinics, abortion providers, and individuals who are associated with abortion. Parts of the book, specifically the appendices of chapters four, five and six, are not available for public consumption on the group's website due to federal laws. It is now in its third edition and the group refers to it as a historical document. The manual is available in its near entirety on the AOG's website which was formerly run by Donald Spitz. Spitz has no history of criminal activity, but he has historically used the website to publish short bios of high profile group members, publish anti-abortion propaganda, post photos of what are claimed to be bloody unborn fetuses that were aborted and he uses the website as a means to justify the actions of the group and incite others to support the Army of God and agree with what it stands for.

Documentary

The AOG movement, along with a select group of individuals who are associated with it, are featured in the HBO documentary film ''Soldiers in the Army of God'' (2000), directed by Marc Levin and Daphne Pinkerson, as part of HBO's '' America Undercover'' series.

Associated individuals

* Michael Bray *

* David Leach * Scott Roeder *

* James Charles Kopp *

Shelley Shannon Rachelle Ranae "Shelley" Shannon (born March 31, 1956) is an American anti-abortion extremist who was convicted in a Kansas state court for the attempted murder of George Tiller by shooting him in his car in Wichita, Kansas in 1993.Phillips, Don ...

* Donald Spitz *

Fritz Springmeier Fritz Artz Springmeier (born Viktor E. Schoof, September 24, 1955) is an American author of conspiracy theory literature who has written a number of books claiming that a global elite who belong to Satanic bloodlines are conspiring to dominat ...

Alt URL
/ref> A 2011

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

report claimed that an associate of this group, Stephen John Jordi, was imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit.

References

DATA & GRAPHICS: Population Of The Communications Management Units
, Margot Williams and Alyson Hurt,

, 3-3-11, retrieved 2011 06 02 from npr.org. (See page 3, default sort by 'Case')

External links

Army of God

by the

National Abortion Federation The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association of abortion providers. NAF members include private and non-profit clinics, Planned Parenthood affiliates, women's health centers, physicians' offices, and hospitals who together ...