A U.S. Justice Department official has confirmed that anti-abortion extremist and FBI Most Wanted fugitive James Charles Kopp will be extradited from France under the condition that the United States not seek the death penalty for his crimes.
On March 29, Kopp was captured in Dinan, a small village in northwestern France. Kopp has been charged with the October 1998 sniper-style assassination of Dr. Barnett Slepian, an Amherst, New York obstetrician-gynecologist who performed abortions. Kopp has also been indicted in the 1995 sniper attack of Ontario abortion provider Dr. Hugh Short. He is suspected in two Canadian abortion provider sniper shootings, in Vancouver in 1994 and Winnipeg in 1997, and in the 1997 sniper attack of an abortion provider in Rochester, New York.
Prior to these acts of violence, Kopp had a long, dogged, and well-traveled history of anti-abortion extremism. His anti-abortion activities have resulted in over two-dozen arrests in at least ten states and abroad. He has participated in clinic blockades of small and massive proportions. Authorities further state that over the past twenty years, Kopp’s paid employment has primarily been related to anti-abortion activities.
FMF’s National Clinic Access Project conducts ongoing research of anti-abortion extremists, and coordinates efforts with law enforcement officials and abortion clinics nationwide.