Kopp's Capture Exposes Organized Network of Extremists

Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, is available for interviews in Washington DC at 703-522-2214. The Feminist Majority Foundation runs the National Clinic Access Project, the nation’s largest and oldest clinic defense project and researches anti-abortion extremists and anti-abortion violence. Katherine Spillar, National Coordinator of the Feminist Majority Foundation, is also available for interviews on the West Coast at 323-651-0495.

WASHINGTON, DC – With Thursday's capture in France of FBI “Most Wanted” James Charles Kopp, authorities have also begun to expose the far-reaching, organized network of extremists who have long aided Kopp and others who commit violent crimes against abortion providers and clinics. Officials have also arrested two associates – Dennis Malvasi and Loretta Marra, both of New York – who allegedly aided Kopp as he evaded international law enforcement authorities after the October 1998 assassination of Amherst, NY obstetrician and abortion provider Barnett A. Slepian.

These associates represent only the beginning of an organized network of extremists who have aided and abetted not only Kopp, but also others who commit violent crimes against abortion providers and facilities. We call on law enforcement to continue to crack this network. This investigation must also reach, expose, and convict the financial backers, supporters, and safe house sponsors who have assisted these terrorists.

The two associates, Dennis Malvasi and Loretta Marra, also have known histories of anti-abortion extremism. Malvasi has been convicted of three clinic bombings in the state of New York and served a seven-year prison sentence. Anti-abortion Web sites herald Malvasi’s acts, such as one that ranks him in “third place” for number of years served for his clinic bombings (www.christiangallery.com). Recently released off parole, Malvasi has been allowed to associate publicly with other anti-abortion extremists. And he has done so prominently and recently, as an honoree at the January 2001 White Rose Banquet, an event to commemorate the violent acts of anti-abortion extremists. These annual banquets are hosted by Michael Bray, a convicted clinic bomber, of Bowie, Maryland and are routinely attended by vocal supporters of the “Army of God.”

In the manual for the underground terrorist network “Army of God,” Kopp is referred to by the nickname of “Atomic Dog.”

The Durham, NC-based Independent Weekly quoted Malvasi with the following, as spoken during the White Rose Banquet event: "My favorite [slogan] is, 'violence never solves anything.'" Malvasi says in a distinctive New York accent. "Of course it does. It solves all kinds of problems. And good and just men have used it as a tool throughout history."

Loretta Marra was arrested with Kopp in January 1991 during a clinic blockade in Levittown, New York. During that blockade, Kopp and Marra chained their feet into a steel device in front of a clinic, an act that necessitated law enforcement to use power tools to extract them.

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