Wisconsin man arrested for planning to shoot abortion providers 'right in the head'

A Wisconsin man was arrested Wednesday after he told police that he had traveled to Madison to shoot an abortion provider "right in the head."

Employees at a Motel 6 in Madison called police after Ralph Lang, 63, told them he had accidentally discharged a firearm in his room, according to a criminal complaint provided to The Wisconsin State Journal.

Lang told Madison Police Department Officer Angie Dyer that he had purchased the gun in 2009 to "lay out abortionists because they are killing babies."

The criminal complaint (PDF) explains that he told the officer he intended to find the abortion doctor at the local Planned Parenthood clinic and "shoot him in the head."

Asked if he intended to shoot only the doctor or the nurses too, he replied that he wished he "could line them up all in a row, get a machine gun, and mow them all down."

Lang recalled that he was in Madison the prior week but did not murder anyone because he "was not 100% in sync with God."

Officers found a map in the suspect's room with dots in each state and the words "some abortion providers." The phrase "Blessed Virgin Mary says Hell awaits any woman having an abortion" was also written on the map.

In an interview with investigators, Lang said that he had driven by the Planned Parenthood clinic at approximately 5:30 p.m. to see if anyone was there.

"I wish I'd done heaven's will right away," he said. "What was I going to do? Take a gun, drop the abortionist."

When asked where he intended to shoot the abortion doctor, he said, "right in the head."

Lang had a .38 caliber pistol and about 35 bullets with him at the time of his arrest.

In 2007, Lang was arrested at the same Planned Parenthood clinic after he told an officer that the "Bible states that anyone involved in abortion should be executed." He charged that law enforcement had not been doing their job by not executing people at the clinic.

"With the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Madison Police Department, we have taken the security precautions necessary to continue with our work," Teri Huyck, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, told the paper.

Abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was killed at his church in Wichita, Kansas almost two years ago when anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder shot him in the head. Roeder was sentenced to life without parole for 50 years.

Watch this video from MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, broadcast May 27, 2011.

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[H/T: Feministing]