Dr. David Gunn was 47 years old when he was gunned down in 1993 during an abortion protest outside his clinic in Pensacola, Florida. Today we think of this as the first targeted killing of an abortion doctor in America—the murder that led to passage of the FACE Act, which made it a federal crime to block access to clinics. It also established the battle lines in an ever more violent and nihilistic war against abortion providers, one that has led to the murders of nearly a dozen more people in the decades since.
Michael Frederick Griffin reportedly shouted “Don’t kill any more babies” just before putting three bullets in Gunn’s back. While the doctor bled to death, Griffin calmly surrendered to the police, saying, “I just shot someone.” Those attending the protest with Griffin showed no alarm at the shooting, a witness told the Washington Post’s William Booth: “It looked like they were just happy.”
At Griffin’s murder trial, his defense counsel would blame his actions on a pro-life leader named John Burt. A former KKK member, Burt was eventually convicted of molesting and sexually abusing teens at a shelter he founded for unwed mothers. He died in prison. After Gunn’s killing, Burt had announced, “We don’t condone this, but we have to remember that Dr. Gunn has killed thousands and thousands of babies.” At trial, Griffin claimed he’d been manipulated by Burt and others.
The jury had little sympathy for Griffin, who was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in a Florida state prison, with a mandatory minimum of 25 years. In a television interview broadcast in Australia in 2010, he didn’t say anything about having been brainwashed. Rather, Griffin owned his actions, saying that “we’re all commanded to protect the innocent children. I just accepted that responsibility, I guess.”
Griffin’s remorselessness has made him a cult hero, birthing a form of radical activism others would emulate. For the last quarter-century, he’s inspired his followers from behind bars. But this week, the man who murdered David Gunn will go before the Florida Commission on Offender Review. He could leave that hearing with an expected release date and the hope that he’ll soon be a free man.