Let us not forget Jim Pouillon, a
Pro-Life Activist, who was shot dead while protesting abortion in front of
Owosso High School in Owosso, Michigan. We will post information about him from
Wikipedia and lifenews.com.
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In
this September 2000 photo, James Pouillon holds one of the posters he uses to
protest abortion in Owosso.
(The Flint Journal) |
The murder of Jim Pouillon
occurred on September 11, 2009, when pro-life activist James Pouillon
was shot dead while protesting abortion in front of Owosso High School in
Owosso, Michigan. It was evidently the first time an activist had ever been
murdered while protesting abortion. Soon after the shooting, police were
alerted to another murder, that of local businessman Michael Fuoss, which they
linked to Pouillon's killer. Police arrested Harlan James Drake and charged him
with both crimes. Drake was later declared fit to stand trial, where he was
convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, and was subsequently sentenced
to two life sentences.
Background
Jim Pouillon was a well-known Michigan
activist and member of Operation Save America. An elderly man
dependent on oxygen tank to breathe, he had been protesting abortion since
1988. On the day he was shot, Pouillon was leading a protest across the street
from Owosso High School in Owosso, Michigan.
Shooting
and arrest
During the protest, Pouillon was shot
at 7:20 a.m. EDST by a gunman in a passing vehicle. One witness recorded the
vehicle's license plate number. Meanwhile, police were alerted to another
murder, of businessman Michael Fuoss at a gravel business he owned. An hour
after Pouillon's shooting, police located and arrested the owner of the
vehicle, Harlan James Drake. Drake indicated he had shot both victims.
Pouillon's murder was evidently the
first time an activist had ever been killed while protesting abortion.
Authorities said Fuoss was not connected to the pro-life movement. Police said
Drake was offended by pro-life material that Pouillon had displayed across from
the school for the previous week. A Center for Reproductive Rights
spokesperson said the shooting did not seem to be tied to the abortion debate.
Trial
While in custody awaiting trial, Drake
attempted suicide by breaking a TV and using the broken glass to cut his
wrists. Drake was later declared fit to stand trial. In 2004, Drake was
involved — but not legally responsible — in a motor-vehicle accident that
killed two teenagers. Drake's attorney, Robert Ashley, argued that Drake
suffered from depression stemming from the crash and was therefore mentally
incompetent at the time of the murders. Drake testified about how he committed
the murder, and even cracked jokes during his testimony. His testimony proved
to be very damning to his case. On March 11, 2010, the jury returned a verdict
of guilty on both counts of first-degree murder.
On September 30, 2009 Drake was deemed
incompetent to stand trial and was remanded into the custody of the Michigan
Department of Mental Health. On April 22, 2010, Drake received life
imprisonment and expressed no remorse for any pain caused to the families.
Drake himself said he should go to jail "forever."
Responses
Several pro-life groups and leaders
have deemed Pouillon a martyr. Lori Lamerand, president of Planned Parenthood
East Central Michigan, stated the killing was tragic and expressed concerns
people would retaliate. President Barack Obama has called the killing
"deplorable" and stated that, "whichever side of a public debate
you're on, violence is never the right answer." Pouillon's funeral was
held at the Owosso High School football stadium.
Soon after the murder Pouillon's
estranged son James M. Pouillon, a podiatrist in Grand Rapids, criticized his
father in an online post. This post, which was quickly circulated in the media,
attributed Pouillon's activism to a "pathological hatred of women"
and explained that "He did this to stalk, harass, terrorize, scream at,
threaten, frighten, and verbally abuse women... He was at the high school
because my niece was there, and female family members were always his favorite
targets." It stated that Pouillon's goal was "to make someone so
angry, to make them feel so terrorized, to make them feel the only way they
could make him stop was to kill him." It concluded that "Owosso is
now rid of a madman." Pouillon's daughter Mary Jo offered a different
image of her father, saying "He didn't want to hurt anyone that hadn't
hurt him or his family." Mary Jo Pouillon sang in a memorial service that
drew pro-life activists from across the country.
The right-to-life organization Operation Rescue named Pouillon
"Person of the Year" for 2009.
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.lifenews.com/2010/09/14/state-5455/
Family of Slain Pro-Life Protester Jim
Pouillon Remembers Him One Year Later
by Steven
Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 14, 2010
Owosso, MI (LifeNews.com) – The family of Jim
Pouillon, the slain pro-life advocate who was killed for protesting abortions
outside a local high school, remembers him one year after the anniversary of
his death. Harlan Drake, a 34-year-old local resident of this Michigan town,
killed him because he didn’t like Drake’s images.
Drake said Pouillon shouldn’t be
showing the images of unborn children killed in abortions to high school
students, and he shot the man
in a drive-by shooting.
Mary Jo Pouillon of Owosso told the
Argus Press newspaper that she takes some comfort a year later in knowing how
much her father’s death impacted people and inspired them to be a part of
working to stop abortions.
“He always told me that he
hoped that when he died that it was out on the corner doing work that God has
called him to do. And that’s exactly what happened,” she said. “And
so many more people heard about his story and his activism and his cause
because of his death. And he would have loved that.”
Pouillon said she received hundreds of
cards from all across the United States from people who provided her and the
Pouillon family support and prayers following her father’s untimely death.
She also said she appreciated the
support of pro-life groups, who came to the area last month to honor him.
“He was just called to do
it,” she told
the newspaper about Jim’s desire to engage in pro-life activities, and she said
he began protesting abortion when she was five-years-old. Family trips would
often include helping pro-life groups like Operation Rescue and Mary Jo
Pouillon would often help her father.
“I supported my dad 100
percent, and he knew it"
she told the Argus Press. “I thank God that I was
blessed to have such a godly example in my life. God told him to do something,
and he did it no matter what society threw at him.”
“He wouldn’t let me leave
the house without saying ‘I love you’ and giving me a kiss good-bye. He always said,
‘You never know when its going to be the last time,’" she added.
Drake also killed Mike Fuoss, with
whom he had a personal feud, after he went to the high school to kill Pouillon.
But Mary Jo says she has no ill will
towards Drake, saying, “He needs Jesus just like I
do."
After receiving treatment at the State
Department of Mental Health, Drake was found competent to stand trial in the
two deaths. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder,
among other minor charges, in March.
In April, Shiawassee County Circuit
Judge Gerald Lostracco sentenced
Drake to the life sentence without parole and Drake said he was sorry to
have caused so much pain for the victim of the families.
"I deserve to go to
jail forever,"
Drake told the judge.
Prosecutors pointed out that
Drake confessed to shooting Pouillon and said he did so because of abortion.
They played a recording of Drake after his arrest admitting to the shootings
and saying they came because he didn’t like how Pouillon would hold graphic
signs showing the victims of abortions.
According to local news reports, Drake
confirmed that he and his mother had a conversion over lunch the day before
about not liking Pouillon’s signs.
"Kind of under my breath I said
‘I’ll take care of that tomorrow,’" he said, claiming his nieces saw the
signs and had nightmares.
"I did not believe that he should
be showing the sign to children, especially at a high school where young girls
of impressionable age would see that and either be disgusted or scared,"
he added.
Operation Rescue president Troy
Newman, who knew Pouillon, told
LifeNews.com after the verdict that justice had been done.
"We are relieved that Mr. Drake’s
behavior will not be excused because he had a sad story to tell, and that he
will be locked away for the rest of his life," Newman said.
"The pro-life community was stunned
by Jim Pouillon’s senseless murder and a lot of us who share Jim’s passion for
protecting the innocent became acutely aware of just how fragile life can
be," Newman added. "Jim was a kind-hearted man who cared about the
injustices of the world and the plight of pre-born babies that die every day at
our nation’s abortion clinics. He had the courage to get up and try to do
something about that injustice. The world was diminished by Jim’s death and
those of us who knew him miss him very much."
Pouillon was a regular protester at
the Feminine Health Care Clinic in Flint, Michigan, operated by abortionist
Alberto Hodari.
Since his death, Hodari has placed
that abortion clinic up for sale in the wake of a lawsuit filed by Caitlin
Bruce who alleges that Hodari forced an abortion on her there even though she
had withdrawn her consent after viewing her pre-born baby on ultrasound.
Operation Rescue eventually named
Pouillon its pro-life person of the year.
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