Birmingham, Ala. – Victims of Eric Rudolph, the anti-abortion extremist who pulled off a series of bombings across the South, say he is taunting them from deep within the nation’s most secure federal prison, and authorities say there is little they can do to stop him.
Rudolph, captured after a five-year manhunt, pleaded guilty in deadly bombings at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and a Birmingham abortion clinic. He is serving a life term at the Supermax penitentiary in Florence, Colo.
He has no computer and little contact with the outside world aside from writing letters. But Rudolph’s long essays have been posted on the Internet by a supporter.
In one piece, Rudolph seeks to justify violence against abortion clinics by arguing that Jesus would condone “militant action in defense of the innocent.” In another essay, Ru dolph mocks former nurse Emily Lyons, nearly killed in the 1998 bombing in Birmingham, and her husband, Jeff. He uses pseudonyms, but there is no doubt he is describing them.
Rudolph recalls how Emily Lyons, in court, described the pain of her injuries and made an obscene gesture at Rudolph as she showed off a finger mangled by the blast.
Rudolph writes: “It was a great speech and one that the denizens of freedom should be proud to enshrine in a museum somewhere. Perhaps they could put it next to MLKs ‘I Have a Dream.’ They could call it ‘I Have a Middle Finger.”‘
Jeff Lyons said he doesn’t often look at the website, which has had some items posted for nearly two years. But he said he is worried that Rudolph’s messages could incite someone to violence. “He’s still sending out harassing communication. He’s still hurting us,” Lyons said.
