Planned Parenthood Shooter Robert Lewis Dear Found Mentally Incompetent

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Mar 23, 2016   |   4:00PM   |   Colorado Springs, CO

The man who allegedly shot 12 people near a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood in November says he has been declared mentally incompetent by the court.

The Gazette reports the accused Robert L. Dear, 57, told KKTV News last week in a phone call that state mental health evaluators determined that he is mentally incompetent to stand trial. The decision about whether to proceed with a trial against Dear is in the hands of district Judge Gilbert Martinez, who has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday, according to the report.

The news is not surprising. In December, Dear made outbursts in court that he wants to fire his public defender and represent himself. Then in January, Dear told authorities that his target was the FBI and the federal government, who he believed were targeting him. After the December outburst, Judge Martinez ordered a mental evaluation.

Abortion activists have tried to blame pro-lifers for inciting Dear to violence, but the evidence indicates otherwise. Dear appears to have no association with the pro-life movement and those who know him say he is an awkward man who never discussed religion or abortion. The profile they paint is far from a caricature of a pro-life activist who has an issue with the Planned Parenthood abortion business and more of a loner or renegade who may have mental health issue and, at a minimum, is a bit “off.”

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Dear allegedly killed three people and injured nine others in the shooting on Nov. 27 outside the Colorado Springs abortion facility. Planned Parenthood officials confirmed none of the people killed or injured were Planned Parenthood abortion clinic staff or patients. And, according to the Associated Press, the shooting took place outside of the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, not in it.

Dear has been charged with first-degree murder and more than 170 other counts, according to the report. During a court outburst in December, Dear said he was guilty, the report states.

The local news report has more details:

Either side can contest the findings by requesting that Dear be assessed by another state mental health evaluator, District Attorney Dan May told reporters last month. If there are no objections and Judge Martinez rules Dear incompetent, Dear will be sent to the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo for treatment.

The issue of mental competency refers to whether Dear understands court proceedings.

In the KKTV interview, Dear said he refused to talk to more than one doctor during his evaluation. He added that he believes he is competent.

“I’m for a speedy trial, this will help the victims’ families,” he told KKTV. “Everybody deserves to have information about what’s going on and what caused this tragedy events of everything, but they don’t want that to come out because it might embarrass the Feds and Obama.”

Dear, who lived in the mountains of Colorado, was arrested at the scene in connection with the violent shooting that claimed the lives of three people, including one police officer and injured nine others, including multiple officers. Dear reportedly mentioned “baby body parts” when arrested at the scene of the crime, but he has no connections with the pro-life movement and has a long criminal record. He was described by those who know him best as someone with clear mental health issues.

Less than 24 hours after the shooting, the CEO of the abortion company, Cecile Richards, issued a fundraising email essentially blaming pro-life people for the shooting, saying the “feed domestic terrorism.”

As LifeNews reported, the police officer killed during the shooting is pro-life and a co-pastor at his local church. Garrett Swasey, 44, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs police officer who was killed while responding to the shooting, was described by his fellow church members and friends as a courageous man and loving father who drew strength and inspiration from his Christian faith.

Family members and friends identified the other two victims as 29-year-old Ke’Arre Stewart and Jennifer Markovsky, 35. Both accompanied friends to the Planned Parenthood on Friday.

Multiple pro-life groups quickly condemned the shooting while pro-abortion presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sent a tweet exploiting the active shooting before the shooter was apprehended or a motive known to push for support for the abortion business and then went on to say pro-life people should “defend Planned Parenthood, not attack it.” And President Barack Obama exploited the shooting to demand pro-life people stop “demonizing” Planned Parenthood.

Soon after the incident, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains issued a statement responding to the shooting, saying it doesn’t know if Planned Parenthood was the target of the attack.

“We don’t yet know the full circumstances and motives behind this criminal action, and we don’t yet know if Planned Parenthood was in fact the target of this attack,” Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains President Vicki Cowart said in a statement.

Cowart later was accused of pushing abortion at the memorial for the shooting victims and one woman walked out after Cowart politicized the event.

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