Wichita, KS – The District Attorney’s office has informed Mark Gietzen that it will not pursue charges against abortionist George Tiller for vehicular assault after Tiller struck Gietzen with his Jeep outside his late-term abortion mill in Wichita, Kansas.
The incident occurred on the evening of April 6, 2006, when Gietzen and another pro-lifer were measuring the width of the driveway to clear up questions about other incidents that had taken place earlier in the week. While exiting the driveway Tiller, gunned his vehicle at the two men, who had no opportunity to move out of the way. Gietzen was stuck by Tiller’s vehicle and sustained injuries to his leg and arm.
Gietzen unsuccessfully sued Tiller in small claims court. However, during that case, which was dismissed on a technicality, one of Tiller’s attorneys met with Gietzen and Operation Rescue’s Cheryl Sullenger, and showed them images of the incident allegedly taken from Tiller’s security camera.
“Those images appeared to have been doctored,” said Sullenger. “The security camera snaps still photos every 3 seconds, but the images we were shown had several second gaps between images, and several different images had exactly the same time stamp. In my mind, I was sure that someone had tampered with the evidence to hide the truth.”
Gietzen then reopened the matter with the police and District Attorney Nola Foulston.
Gietzen and Sullenger met with police and were shown the unaltered images that officers extracted from Tiller’s security camera immediately following the incident. Those images clearly showed Tiller’s vehicle striking Gietzen while Gietzen unsuccessfully tried to push himself away to avoid injury. They also confirmed that the images Tiller’s attorney had shown had indeed been altered.
Yesterday, Gietzen met with assistant District Attorney Kim Parker, who told Gietzen there would be no prosecution.
“There was no logical explanation given as to why this decision was made,” said Gietzen.
“The evidence that I saw was clear, and I think the average person viewing it would reach the same conclusion, that Tiller intentionally struck Gietzen with his Jeep, and efforts were made to cover it up,” said Sullenger. “This is another example of officials excusing Tiller’s criminal acts. It also creates a dangerous atmosphere for peaceful pro-lifers outside of Tiller’s clinic. The next time Tiller snaps, he may kill someone, and the responsibility for that will rest directly at the doorstep of District Attorney Nola Foulston.”
Gietzen drives one of Operation Rescue’s Truth Trucks, and is the director of the Kansas Coalition For Life.
