John Burt This is Me

 View all 10 references Web References

1. 1. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. - Anti-Choice Extremist Marks One Year Of 18-Year Prison Term

   www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/5/2004   Last Visited: 9/4/2005

   When anti-choice extremist John Burt was arrested in 2003 for molesting a 15-year-old girl at the home he ran for pregnant and troubled teens and women in Milton, FL, it wasn't the first time that he'd had a run-in with the law.
   
   Almost two decades earlier he'd been convicted of trespassing on the property of a doctor who provided abortions. The year after that, he broke into The Ladies Center, a reproductive health clinic in Pensacola, FL, and knocked down the manager of the clinic and a clinic volunteer who were later hospitalized.
   
   The New York Times, in a story published during Griffin's trial for slaying Gunn, quotes Burt as saying, "Get rid of the Klan's violence and racial bigotry, and I could work with those people."
   ...
   But Burt didn't stop there. He was with Paul Hill when Hill photographed Dr. John Britton, an abortion provider Hill later murdered. And when Michael Griffin, a chemical plant worker, assassinated Dr. David Gunn, an abortion provider at Pensacola Women's Medical Services in 1993, John Burt was leading an anti-choice protest on the other side of the building.
   ...
   Burt had befriended Griffin before the killing.
   ...
   In fact, when Griffin was on trial his lawyers argued that Burt, then the regional director of the extremist anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, had brainwashed Griffin by showing him graphic films, prayer sessions, books, effigies of doctors and nurses, and a "funeral" for a pair of allegedly aborted fetuses.
   ...
   Burt had a demonstrated fondness for such tactics. The AP reported that in the 1980s and '90s he often carried with him, wrapped in a blanket, "Baby Charlie," which he claimed was a preserved fetus.
   
   Burt learned how to use violent tactics and the rhetoric of hate from true masters of the craft , he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. A former Marine, Burt was, by his own admission, a "drinker and doper" in his younger years. But even after finding religion and becoming a minister, he didn't give up his old friends in the Klan. The New York Times, in a story published during Griffin's trial for slaying Gunn, quotes Burt as saying, "Get rid of the Klan's violence and racial bigotry, and I could work with those people.
   ...
   One of the projects Burt took up after being born-again was Our Father's House, a home for pregnant, drug-addicted, battered women and teens and troubled adolescent girls. In August 1997 Burt received funding from the Florida Department of Corrections for a program at Our Father's House for women coming out of prison and the children of women inmates. But within six months the Department of Corrections had pulled its funding because Burt insisted on enforcing mandatory church attendance and Bible study, despite the fact that using tax dollars for such purposes violates the First Amendment.
   
   But by 2003 Burt was facing bigger problems at Our Father's House. A 15-year-old-girl, then a resident of the home, accused him of molesting her. The girl and another girl, who had witnessed the crime, were taken into custody by the Florida Department of Children and Families. Burt disappeared. On June 10, 2003, five days later and 170 miles from Pensacola, police pulled over a van with a "Choose Life" license plate and arrested Burt.
   
   Burt's trial was delayed for several months because the victim's father would not let her leave her native Ireland to return to Florida. After a treaty change in March 2004, however, the girl was able to testify via video from Northern Ireland. She said that Burt had touched her breasts, groin, and buttocks over a three-day period, that he had forced her to touch his groin, and that he had given her a note describing sex acts he wanted to perform with her. The court also heard testimony from another girl who had accused Burt of improperly touching her and masturbating in front of her. No charges were brought in that case.
   
   The defense, meanwhile, which had already tried and failed to have the girls' psychiatric records admitted into evidence, attempted to portray the girls as disturbed teens who were seeking attention or trying to aid lawsuits brought by their parents against Burt. Burt and his wife Linda testified that the note was meant for her, and that after Burt had been accused of molestation in February 2003 they had created a living arrangement that kept Burt away from the girls. Officials at the Department of Children and Families disputed that claim, testifying that they were the ones who had come up with the plan. Burt himself claimed he was subject to blackouts and that he could not remember what had happened while he was alone with the victim the night he was accused of giving her the note.
   
   The jury convicted him, and at age 66 he was sentenced to 18 years and four months in state prison. The judge classified him as a sex offender and ordered him to pay $650 in costs and fines. It remains to be seen how John Burt will use his time in prison, but for now, one of the country's most notorious and influential anti-choice extremists is behind bars.

2. 2. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. - Anti-Choice Extremist Marks One Year Of 18-Year Prison Term

   www.ppfa.org/pp2/portal/files/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/5/2004   Last Visited: 7/9/2005

   When anti-choice extremist John Burt was arrested in 2003 for molesting a 15-year-old girl at the home he ran for pregnant and troubled teens and women in Milton, FL, it wasn't the first time that he'd had a run-in with the law.
   
   Almost two decades earlier he'd been convicted of trespassing on the property of a doctor who provided abortions. The year after that, he broke into The Ladies Center, a reproductive health clinic in Pensacola, FL, and knocked down the manager of the clinic and a clinic volunteer who were later hospitalized.
   
   The New York Times, in a story published during Griffin's trial for slaying Gunn, quotes Burt as saying, "Get rid of the Klan's violence and racial bigotry, and I could work with those people."
   ...
   But Burt didn't stop there. He was with Paul Hill when Hill photographed Dr. John Britton, an abortion provider Hill later murdered. And when Michael Griffin, a chemical plant worker, assassinated Dr. David Gunn, an abortion provider at Pensacola Women's Medical Services in 1993, John Burt was leading an anti-choice protest on the other side of the building.
   ...
   Burt had befriended Griffin before the killing.
   ...
   In fact, when Griffin was on trial his lawyers argued that Burt, then the regional director of the extremist anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, had brainwashed Griffin by showing him graphic films, prayer sessions, books, effigies of doctors and nurses, and a "funeral" for a pair of allegedly aborted fetuses.
   ...
   Burt had a demonstrated fondness for such tactics. The AP reported that in the 1980s and '90s he often carried with him, wrapped in a blanket, "Baby Charlie," which he claimed was a preserved fetus.
   
   Burt learned how to use violent tactics and the rhetoric of hate from true masters of the craft , he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. A former Marine, Burt was, by his own admission, a "drinker and doper" in his younger years. But even after finding religion and becoming a minister, he didn't give up his old friends in the Klan. The New York Times, in a story published during Griffin's trial for slaying Gunn, quotes Burt as saying, "Get rid of the Klan's violence and racial bigotry, and I could work with those people.
   ...
   One of the projects Burt took up after being born-again was Our Father's House, a home for pregnant, drug-addicted, battered women and teens and troubled adolescent girls. In August 1997 Burt received funding from the Florida Department of Corrections for a program at Our Father's House for women coming out of prison and the children of women inmates. But within six months the Department of Corrections had pulled its funding because Burt insisted on enforcing mandatory church attendance and Bible study, despite the fact that using tax dollars for such purposes violates the First Amendment.
   
   But by 2003 Burt was facing bigger problems at Our Father's House. A 15-year-old-girl, then a resident of the home, accused him of molesting her. The girl and another girl, who had witnessed the crime, were taken into custody by the Florida Department of Children and Families. Burt disappeared. On June 10, 2003, five days later and 170 miles from Pensacola, police pulled over a van with a "Choose Life" license plate and arrested Burt.
   
   Burt's trial was delayed for several months because the victim's father would not let her leave her native Ireland to return to Florida. After a treaty change in March 2004, however, the girl was able to testify via video from Northern Ireland. She said that Burt had touched her breasts, groin, and buttocks over a three-day period, that he had forced her to touch his groin, and that he had given her a note describing sex acts he wanted to perform with her. The court also heard testimony from another girl who had accused Burt of improperly touching her and masturbating in front of her. No charges were brought in that case.
   
   The defense, meanwhile, which had already tried and failed to have the girls' psychiatric records admitted into evidence, attempted to portray the girls as disturbed teens who were seeking attention or trying to aid lawsuits brought by their parents against Burt. Burt and his wife Linda testified that the note was meant for her, and that after Burt had been accused of molestation in February 2003 they had created a living arrangement that kept Burt away from the girls. Officials at the Department of Children and Families disputed that claim, testifying that they were the ones who had come up with the plan. Burt himself claimed he was subject to blackouts and that he could not remember what had happened while he was alone with the victim the night he was accused of giving her the note.
   
   The jury convicted him, and at age 66 he was sentenced to 18 years and four months in state prison. The judge classified him as a sex offender and ordered him to pay $650 in costs and fines. It remains to be seen how John Burt will use his time in prison, but for now, one of the country's most notorious and influential anti-choice extremists is behind bars.

3. 3. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. - Anti-Choice Extremist Marks One Year Of 18-Year Prison Term

   www.plannedparenthood.com/pp2/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/5/2004   Last Visited: 8/13/2005

   When anti-choice extremist John Burt was arrested in 2003 for molesting a 15-year-old girl at the home he ran for pregnant and troubled teens and women in Milton, FL, it wasn't the first time that he'd had a run-in with the law.
   
   Almost two decades earlier he'd been convicted of trespassing on the property of a doctor who provided abortions. The year after that, he broke into The Ladies Center, a reproductive health clinic in Pensacola, FL, and knocked down the manager of the clinic and a clinic volunteer who were later hospitalized.
   
   The New York Times, in a story published during Griffin's trial for slaying Gunn, quotes Burt as saying, "Get rid of the Klan's violence and racial bigotry, and I could work with those people."
   ...
   But Burt didn't stop there. He was with Paul Hill when Hill photographed Dr. John Britton, an abortion provider Hill later murdered. And when Michael Griffin, a chemical plant worker, assassinated Dr. David Gunn, an abortion provider at Pensacola Women's Medical Services in 1993, John Burt was leading an anti-choice protest on the other side of the building.
   ...
   Burt had befriended Griffin before the killing.
   ...
   In fact, when Griffin was on trial his lawyers argued that Burt, then the regional director of the extremist anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, had brainwashed Griffin by showing him graphic films, prayer sessions, books, effigies of doctors and nurses, and a "funeral" for a pair of allegedly aborted fetuses.
   ...
   Burt had a demonstrated fondness for such tactics. The AP reported that in the 1980s and '90s he often carried with him, wrapped in a blanket, "Baby Charlie," which he claimed was a preserved fetus.
   
   Burt learned how to use violent tactics and the rhetoric of hate from true masters of the craft , he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. A former Marine, Burt was, by his own admission, a "drinker and doper" in his younger years. But even after finding religion and becoming a minister, he didn't give up his old friends in the Klan. The New York Times, in a story published during Griffin's trial for slaying Gunn, quotes Burt as saying, "Get rid of the Klan's violence and racial bigotry, and I could work with those people.
   ...
   One of the projects Burt took up after being born-again was Our Father's House, a home for pregnant, drug-addicted, battered women and teens and troubled adolescent girls. In August 1997 Burt received funding from the Florida Department of Corrections for a program at Our Father's House for women coming out of prison and the children of women inmates. But within six months the Department of Corrections had pulled its funding because Burt insisted on enforcing mandatory church attendance and Bible study, despite the fact that using tax dollars for such purposes violates the First Amendment.
   
   But by 2003 Burt was facing bigger problems at Our Father's House. A 15-year-old-girl, then a resident of the home, accused him of molesting her. The girl and another girl, who had witnessed the crime, were taken into custody by the Florida Department of Children and Families. Burt disappeared. On June 10, 2003, five days later and 170 miles from Pensacola, police pulled over a van with a "Choose Life" license plate and arrested Burt.
   
   Burt's trial was delayed for several months because the victim's father would not let her leave her native Ireland to return to Florida. After a treaty change in March 2004, however, the girl was able to testify via video from Northern Ireland. She said that Burt had touched her breasts, groin, and buttocks over a three-day period, that he had forced her to touch his groin, and that he had given her a note describing sex acts he wanted to perform with her. The court also heard testimony from another girl who had accused Burt of improperly touching her and masturbating in front of her. No charges were brought in that case.
   
   The defense, meanwhile, which had already tried and failed to have the girls' psychiatric records admitted into evidence, attempted to portray the girls as disturbed teens who were seeking attention or trying to aid lawsuits brought by their parents against Burt. Burt and his wife Linda testified that the note was meant for her, and that after Burt had been accused of molestation in February 2003 they had created a living arrangement that kept Burt away from the girls. Officials at the Department of Children and Families disputed that claim, testifying that they were the ones who had come up with the plan. Burt himself claimed he was subject to blackouts and that he could not remember what had happened while he was alone with the victim the night he was accused of giving her the note.
   
   The jury convicted him, and at age 66 he was sentenced to 18 years and four months in state prison. The judge classified him as a sex offender and ordered him to pay $650 in costs and fines. It remains to be seen how John Burt will use his time in prison, but for now, one of the country's most notorious and influential anti-choice extremists is behind bars.