Man Wanting to Bomb Abortion Business Turned in by Parents

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 11, 2006


Greenbelt, MD (LifeNews.com) -- A man who was considering using a bomb to blow up a local Maryland abortion facility had his plans thwarted by two people he may not have suspected of tipping police -- his parents. The parents of Robert Weiler, a 25 year-old from Forestville, notified the authorities that their son was planning to target an abortion facility.
Weiler's father, Robert Weiler Sr., told the Washington Post that he felt he had no other options than to contact police and tell them of his son's plans. He and his wife Catherine are both pro-life but they don't support violence as a means to stop the violence of abortion.

"[O]ur concern was just to make sure nobody got hurt," he said.

"It's just something that he believed in very fervently, and in my opinion he went way over the top," Weiler told the Post. "We became aware of what he was doing, and we felt obligated to contact the police."

Weiler told the newspaper his son, who had been living with them, disappeared from their home a week prior to the incident.

He initially contacted police on June 4. he told the Post that two officers took their statement but they never heard more from them. Frustrated with the lack of response, he called the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and officials visited his home for six hours to gather information, the Post reported.

Weiler's son apparently stole money from his parents in a likely effort to pay for the explosives and a gun.

Robert Weiler was arrested around 12:30 am Thursday.

Police went to the home of a friend where the homemade bomb he planned to use was located. The bomb went off as a technician attempted to disabled it. No one was injured, but the house was set ablaze.

The target of his planned attack appeared to be Metropolitan Family Planning Clinic abortion business in Greenbelt, Maryland.

He was charged with four counts of making a destructive device and possessing an illegal handgun. The 25-year-old is being held at the Garrett County Detention Center and is slated to appear in court on Monday.

Fire Department spokesman Mark Brady told News4 television that police notified the bomb squad about midnight.

"We responded and confirmed there was an explosive device in the closest of a bedroom of this two-story, single-family home," he said. "We went into render-safe operations, in which the bomb squad attempts to disrupt the package to remove all the components that make it operable."