Anti-abortion activist shot

This is a tragic story but perhaps the most interesting thing is how the media headlined it. They did not headline it as I have above. The paper I got the story from headed it "Michigan trucker shoots 2 on hit list" which tells you just about nothing. I am told that the Detroit Free Press actually changed its headline from “Pro-life activist shot dead near Owosso High” to “Owosso police look into two murders” to play down the anti-abortion angle. Funny, I don’t recall anything like that happening when abortionist George Tiller was shot

A Michigan trucker with an apparent hit list fatally shot two men - a well-known pro-life activist and a gravel-pit owner - and likely planned to gun down a third victim Friday before he was arrested by police.

Harlan James Drake, 33, of Owosso, Mich., was arrested at his apartment about 8:30 a.m. and charged with two counts of first-degree murder after shooting two of the three men on his grudge list, said Shiawassee County District Attorney Randy Cobry.

"The information is that he had ill will toward these three individuals, not for the same reason, necessarily, but he had a grudge, if you will, against this trio of individuals," Mr. Cobry said.

Still unclear is the victims' connection, if any, to each other and to Mr. Drake. The first victim, 63-year-old Jim Pouillon, was a pro-life activist who spent hours on Owosso street corners and at local events with his chair, oxygen tank and anti-abortion signs, earning him the nickname "the sign guy."

Mr. Pouillon was gunned down about 7:20 a.m. as he sat across the street from Owosso High School, holding a sign showing a picture of a 4-week-old baby and a caption saying "Life."

Many students and parents witnessed the shooting and were able to identify the vehicle and license plate, leading police to Mr. Drake's apartment. During his arrest, authorities said, Mr. Drake reportedly told police that he had been involved that morning in another shooting. Authorities received a call at 8:17 a.m. from Fuoss Gravel, where owner Mike Fuoss, 61, was found dead in his office by an employee. Mr. Fuoss had been shot multiple times, according to the Shiawassee County Sheriff's Department.

More here

Posted by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).