Crime

Man Arrested, Charged in Florida Abortion Clinic Fire

PENSACOLA, Fla. (The Blaze/AP) — Authorities say a homeless man charged Thursday with setting a New Year’s Day fire that gutted a family planning clinic told investigators he acted out of a strong disbelief in abortion and was also fueled by seeing a young woman enter the clinic while he looked on recently with protesters.

Bobby Joe Rogers, 41, was charged with one count of damaging a building by fire or explosive and was being held Thursday at the Escambia County Jail in the Florida Panhandle region. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

In an affidavit, prosecutors say Rogers told investigators he went to the Pensacola clinic of American Family Planning around midnight on New Year’s eve with a fire bomb he had crafted from a 32-ounce beer bottle and gasoline with a wick made from an old shirt.

He told them he lit the bomb, threw it against the building and watched it burst in flames and ignite the building, the affidavit said. He then went across the street to an abandoned car wash until he was sure the fire was going, according to the document.

“He stayed at the car wash just long enough to make sure the fire was going and recalled hearing a lot of crackling and popping as the fire progressed,” the affidavit stated. It added that he then went to a shed where he often would sleep behind a closed barbecue restaurant.

Rogers has a long criminal history that includes arrests in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Florida, authorities reported. The affidavit said he had felony convictions for burglary in Alabama, Missouri and Tennessee.

They said he was identified as a suspect following tips from the community.

Investigators initially said Rogers was from Tuscaloosa, Ala., and later said he was from Pensacola. They offered no reason for the discrepancy. Jail records listed no address.

The two-story Pensacola clinic that was gutted by flames has been attacked before. It was bombed on Christmas Day in 1984, and in 1994 a doctor and a volunteer who escorted patients to and from the clinic were shot to death as they arrived. The gunman, Paul Hill, was executed in 2003. Pensacola was the site of other abortion-related violence in 1993 when Dr. David Gunn was shot and killed at another clinic by an abortion protester.

Since the Hill murders, American Family Planning has been the site of near-daily protests with anti-abortion activists carrying Bibles, crosses and signs, but the violence that marked the clinic in the mid-1990s had stopped before Sunday’s blaze. No one was hurt in the fire.

Investigators from a federal joint terrorism task force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined the investigation headed by the state fire marshal.

Rogers had a brief preliminary hearing on Thursday. He waived his right to detention hearing and to a preliminary hearing and agreed to be represented by the federal public defender’s office.

Records from Alachua County show he was arrested on Dec. 12, 2009, on charges of vehicle theft. Art Forgey, spokesman for the Alachua County Sheriff’s office said Rogers spent three months in the Alachua County Jail. Court records from the Alachua County case were not immediately available.

Rogers offered only “some kind of prison release ID card,” when he and another man were pulled over driving the stolen car in 2009, the arresting officer wrote in his report.

The officer stopped the 1994 Mercury Sable because of a malfunctioning headlight. Rogers was the passenger.

“When I approached the vehicle the driver and the passenger appeared nervous. I could see open containers of beer in the car driver side and passenger side,” the highway patrol officer wrote.

The driver had a suspended license and Rogers, who gave an address in Boca Raton, had no license. Both men were arrested on charges of grand theft auto. The arrest report indicated that Rogers had been drinking and that the officer was uncertain if Rogers had taken any drugs.

The 2009 arrest report spells Rogers last name “Rodgers,” but his photo and his birthdate match.

The affidavit shows that Rogers has felony convictions in Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri for burglary and in Mississippi for grand larceny. Details were not immediately available.

Comments (17)

  • WeDontNeedNoSteenkinBadges07
    Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:32pm

    “Man Arrested, Charged in Florida Abortion Clinic Fire”

    Another HERO stopping State-sponsored murder of the most innocent among us.
    WE SALUTE YOU!

    SkyMarsh. ANOKE: “Ah. Johnny Rico. Hero of Planet P.”
    Col. RICO: “I just did my part, sir.”
    SkyMarsh. ANOKE: “Oh no. Heroes inspire courage, sacrifice.”
    Col. RICO: “Sacrifice?”
    SkyMarsh. ANOKE: “Yes, by asking us to be better than what we are.”

    Report Post » WeDontNeedNoSteenkinBadges07  
  • Jim in Houston
    Posted on January 6, 2012 at 3:38pm

    So let me see if I understand – It is OK to kill an unborn baby, but not to kill the killer of the unborn baby.

    Report Post »  
  • MONICNE
    Posted on January 6, 2012 at 2:56pm

    He seems like just another outraged citizen who takes the law into his own hands – just like the Deadliest SEAL.

    Both are “Actual Heroes” we need our children to emulate, and as a bonus they are real progressive slayers.

    TEA

    Report Post » MONICNE  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on January 6, 2012 at 11:58am

    Good training!

    Report Post »  
  • EqualJustice
    Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:12am

    He seems like he would be vulnerable, watching those women go in and destroy the life within them, being mentally disturbed and all. Being prolife myself, I am just glad no one else died because of the fire. What he did never really helps anyone.

    Report Post » EqualJustice  
  • itsmyfirstday
    Posted on January 6, 2012 at 7:55am

    May God bless all those who were murdered there and have mercy on the killers souls.

    Report Post » itsmyfirstday  
  • BigFoot
    Posted on January 6, 2012 at 5:51am

    “They said he was identified as a suspect following tips from the community.”

    He actually came up to Channel 3 news as they were reporting live from the scene and asked how they liked his handy work. What a freaking idiot.

    Speaking of freaking idiots, the man is not a “hero”. He is an ass. At this time a woman’s right to choose is the law, regardless of what you personally may think. If you don’t like it, too bad. That choice is between the woman, her doctor and God. You’re not a factor. Period. End of story.

    Report Post » BigFoot  
    • BigFoot
      Posted on January 6, 2012 at 6:27am

      Before everyone jumps on me……I’m a Libertarian, live in the Pensacola area and am personally against abortion. However, I don’t want the government making personal decisions for me or my family. By the way, I’m not a Ron Paul supporter. I think he is as crazy as a blind dog in a smoke house.

      Roe v Wade, simply stated, says that a woman has the right to an abortion, if she so chooses. I’m fine with that. Abortion is an extremely personal decision that should be left alone. If it had stated that a woman must have an abortion, or can’t have one, then I’d be against it. I want the government to stay out of my life as much as possible.

      Report Post » BigFoot  
    • US_SOLDIER
      Posted on January 6, 2012 at 7:24am

      “Investigators from a federal joint terrorism task force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined the investigation”
      -Whatever happened to the police and fire dept just showing up? The police secure the perimeter, the fire dept puts out the fire and the fire marshall oversees the investigation as to what or who started the fire. Now it might be scary brown people who hate our freedom who start fires so we need big scary sounding federal agencies to keep us safe and show up at every incident the police do decked out in enough gear to make us military people jealous, with tanks and assault rifles (for your protection of course) SMH welcome to the police state people

      Report Post »  
    • BigFoot
      Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:20am

      US Soldier,

      You have to understand the history of this particular clinic. Over the past 30 years or so, there have been at least 2 bombings, 2 fatal shootings, numerous “minor” incidences and now this. Although this appears to be the actions of a single crazy individual with an extensive arrest record, I’m sure they just want to make sure. I’m not sure where your “scary brown people” analysis comes from, since all of the previous hostile actions were taken by “scary white people”. I’ll have to admit that I have not seen this perps arrest photo.

      Report Post » BigFoot  
  • donnyb
    Posted on January 6, 2012 at 5:34am

    Crying from the ground is the blood shed from millions of babies! While I understand violence against those who use their hands to shed innocent blood, the only real answer is for us to pray and plead with God to turn this great country back to its first love. God can still be moved when the righteous cry! Psamls 34.15-17

    Report Post » donnyb  
  • Latter-Day-Soldier
    Posted on January 6, 2012 at 2:20am

    This is a quote I heard from an LDS radio commercial: “Adoption, it’s about love”

    Report Post » Latter-Day-Soldier  
  • noland
    Posted on January 6, 2012 at 1:56am

    Two wrongs don”t make it right…don”t leave our laws out of our desicions i mean it is your choice, just be prepared to face the conseqence. Here on earth and after

    Report Post »  
  • Captain Crunch
    Posted on January 5, 2012 at 11:30pm

    The man is a hero. The fire probably delayed/prevented the violent extermination of another innocent baby.

    Report Post »  
    • Marine25
      Posted on January 6, 2012 at 7:41pm

      The man is a terrorist in the vein of Mohammed Atta or Timothy McVeigh. Using violence to dissuade others from choices you don’t approve of is terrorism. Even for white Christians. To say otherwise reveals hypocrisy and removes credibility.

      Report Post »  

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