Sunday, March 13, 2011

Bus driver charged in attack on Madera Planned Parenthood

MADERA -- A Chowchilla school bus driver has been charged with firebombing a Planned Parenthood office here last September, and authorities said Thursday he also is responsible for vandalism and menacing signs left at the city's Islamic center.

Donny Eugene Mower, 37, of Madera, was arrested Wednesday on federal charges of attacking a reproductive health clinic. If convicted, he faces a minimum of five years in prison.

The September firebombing came several weeks after someone threw a brick at the Madera Islamic Center and left signs there, including one that read, "Wake up America, the enemy is here."

An entity calling itself the "American Nationalist Brotherhood" took credit for both incidents, but U.S. Attorney Ben Wagner said Mower is its only member. Wagner said his office is determining whether also to prosecute Mower for hate crimes.

"I am here to assure members of the mosque that there is nothing to fear," Wagner said at a news conference at the Islamic Center. He was joined by members of the Islamic community, Planned Parenthood representatives and law enforcement officials............

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