FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                   CRM
MONDAY, OCOTBER 24, 1994                                     (202) 616-2771
                                                         TDD (202) 514-1888

        OREGON WOMAN CHARGED IN ARSON, ACID AND NAPALM ATTACKS ON 
                           NINE ABORTION CLINICS
                                     
     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Federal grand juries in Oregon and
Eastern California today returned indictments totaling 30 counts
against a former Oregon woman in connection with 10 arson and
acid attacks at nine abortion clinics in Oregon, California,
Nevada and Idaho during 1992 and 1993.
     Named as defendant is Rachelle Ranae "Shelly" Shannon, 38, a
former resident of Grants Pass, Oregon.  She currently is serving
a 10-year sentence in Kansas on state charges for the attempted
murder of Wichita physician George Tiller in 1993.
     Kristine Olson Rogers, the U.S. Attorney for Oregon, said
she would seek to have Shannon brought back to Portland for
trial.  Shannon faces a separate trial in Sacramento, California. 
     The charges include arson, interference with commerce by
force, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.  Shannon is
accused of injecting butyric acid, a noxious, foul-smelling
substance, into the walls of clinics in Reno, Nevada, and Chico,
California, and using napalm in the firebombing of a Sacramento
clinic.  All of the incidents occurred before the new federal law
protecting access to abortion clinics went into effect on May 26,
1994.
     "Violence against clinics which provide reproductive health
services constitutes domestic terrorism," said Charles J.
Stevens, U.S. Attorney in Sacramento, California.  "Investigating
and prosecuting such conduct is a high priority in this office."
     The following specific incidents are alleged in the
California indictment:
   Arson at the Feminist Womens' Health Center in Redding on     
    June 6, 1992 resulting in at least $70,000 in property        
    damage.   
   Arson at the Feminist Women's Health Center in Sacramento on  
    August 18, 1992, which resulted in damage to the adjacent     
    office of the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
   An acid attack on the Feminist Womens' Health Center in       
    Chico on September 17, 1992.
   Arson at the Pregnancy Consultation Center in Sacramento on   
    November 28, 1992 that caused more than $175,000 in damage.   
     The Oregon indictment concerns the following incidents:
   Arson at the Catalina Medical Clinic and the offices of       
    Dr. Willard L. Brown in Ashland on April 11, 1992.
   Arson at the Lovejoy Surgicenter in Portland on August 1,     
    1992.
   Arson at the West End Women's Health Group in Reno, Nevada    
    on August 18, 1992.  (Same day as Sacramento attack)
   Arson at the Feminist Women's Health Center in Eugene on      
    September 16, 1992.  (Approximately 2 a.m.)
   Acid attack on West End Women's Health Group in Reno, Nevada  
    on September 16, 1992.  (Same day as above, about 11 hours    
    later, and day before Chico acid attack) 
   Arson at the Women's Health Care Center in Boise, Idaho on    
    May 27, 1993.
     The Oregon indictment also contains charges in connection
with the incidents in California, to which Shannon traveled from
her Oregon home.
     The maximum sentence for each count of arson (6 counts) 
is 10 years in prison.  Because a firefighter was injured during
the November 28, 1992 Sacramento incident, the maximum penalty on
that count is 20 years.  
     Each count of interference with commerce by force (7 counts)
carries a maximum 20-year sentence.  Interstate travel in aid of
racketeering (7 counts) can result in a maximum of five years for
each count.  Use of fire in the commission of a federal felony (8
counts) is punishable by a mandatory five-year sentence for the
first conviction, with mandatory consecutive terms of 10 years
for each subsequent conviction.  
     Use of a destructive device (the jar of napalm) during and
in relation to a crime of violence (1 count) carries a mandatory
consecutive sentence of 30 years.  The maximum penalty for
possessing an unregistered destructive device (1 count) is 10
years. 
     U.S. Attorneys Rogers and Stevens said the indictments were
the culmination of lengthy investigations by the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and FBI in Oregon, Idaho and
Northern California.  U.S. Attorney Stevens said the Redding,
Sacramento and Chico Police and Fire Departments provided
valuable assistance, and he particularly credited the
investigative work of ATF Special Agents Linda E. Benton and
David L. McCain.  U.S. Attorney Rogers said essential support was
provided by ATF Special Agents Cheryl Glenn and John Comery, FBI
Special Agents J. Kenneth Moore, Jr., and H. Eugene McMillan,
Jr., Oregon State Police Detective Randy Becker, and Ashland
Police Detective Lynn Parlette.
     Further information can be obtained from Assistant U.S.
Attorney Stephen F. Peifer in Portland at (503) 727-1012 and
Patricia Pontello in Sacramento at (916) 551-2745.

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