That Friday’s shooting attack on a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic by a man who appears to be a right-wing extremist would become a flashpoint in the United States’ cultural war over abortion was inevitable. Sunday, however, Colorado authorities released the identities of 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear’s two alleged civilian victims. Along with what was already known about victim Garrett Swasey, a police officer at the University of Colorado’s Colorado Springs campus, their backgrounds complicate the kind of red state–blue state stereotypes that many (myself included) are likely guilty of picturing when the subject of Planned Parenthood is raised:
Swasey, 44, was the co-pastor of his church and an accomplished figure skater; he also leaves behind two children.
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