Frank Szabo, New Hampshire sheriff candidate, threatens abortionists with “deadly force”

Frank Szabo, the Republican candidate for Sheriff of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, said in a Wednesday interview with a local television station that if elected, he would arrest and prosecute those involved in legal abortions, referencing the possibility of using deadly force to stop abortions.

Frank Szabo, who is running for sheriff in Hillsborough County, caused an uproar with his threats to crack down on legal abortion with arrests, prosecution and further actions aimed at doctors.

"Deadly force is always a last resort," Szabo said in interview with the television station WMUR on Wednesday. "Why would anyone object to the use of deadly force to prevent the murder of an unborn human?"

He elaborated,

“Well, I would hope that it wouldn’t come to that, as with any situation where someone is in danger, but again, specifically talking about elective abortions and late-term abortions, that is an act that needs to be stopped,” said Szabo.

The statement echoed an earlier press release, in which Szabo announced, “Abortion on demand is murder. Once elected, Sheriff Szabo will arrest anyone involved in the murder of a citizen of Hillsborough County.” He also expressed his opinion that the county sheriff had no superior officer, and did not have to take orders from other elected officials.

Following an uproar over his violence-inducing commentary, Szabo backed off and claimed his “passionate stance against abortion” and his “imagination got away with him”.

What, exactly, was this whack job repeatedly imagining while writing a press release earlier this month and being interviewed on television Wednesday?

Beating up rape victims who choose not to carry their rapists’ children? Hauling a 12-year-old off to jail for aborting her stepfather’s incestuous progeny? Driving a tank into a Planned Parenthood clinic? Murdering doctors and nurses?

Inquiring minds want to know . . . What sick, murderous fantasies does Szabo have about “cracking down” on a wholly legal medical procedure? If he thinks murdering abortion providers “in the line of duty” is acceptable, what will stop him from doing it as a private citizen?

After all, neighbors of Szabo’s in Pennsylvania in 2010 (yes, he’s new to New Hampshire) learned that he has no respect for the rule of law, or even a basic understanding of it:

Frank Szabo testified on behalf of himself and his wife. He offered various exhibits, including the Pennsylvania Constitution, in support of his claim that the Township lacks jurisdiction to regulate private property through its zoning ordinance. Mr. Szabo’s testimony can be summed up in his statement that “[z]oning cannot possibly apply to private property.” N.T. 50. Essentially, Mr. Szabo argued that zoning ordinances that govern private property disputes have no constitutional authority. Szabo stated that keeping poultry on his property “has nothing to do with public health or public safety.”

Szabo also proudly wore an “Oath Keeper” t-shirt during his followup interview. Who are the Oath Keepers?

Founded [April 2009] by Yale-educated lawyer and ex-Ron Paul aide Stewart Rhodes, the group has established itself as a hub in the sprawling anti-Obama movement that includes Tea Partiers, Birthers, and 912ers. Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, and Pat Buchanan have all sung its praises, and in December, a grassroots summit it helped organize drew such prominent guests as representatives Phil Gingrey and Paul Broun, both Georgia Republicans.

There are scores of patriot groups, but what makes Oath Keepers unique is that its core membership consists of men and women in uniform, including soldiers, police, and veterans. At regular ceremonies in every state, members reaffirm their official oaths of service, pledging to protect the Constitution—but then they go a step further, vowing to disobey “unconstitutional” orders from what they view as an increasingly tyrannical government.

Read the Mother Jones article for an in-depth profile of the paranoid, anti-American vigilantes-in-uniform who are prepared to murder other Americans if they don’t like the orders they receive.

In an eerie echo of the Todd Akin bus-toss of this past Monday, the gutless, anti-choice Republican candidate for Governor (Kevin Smith) grabbed Szabo by his Oath Keeper t-shirt and hurled him under the nearest (figurative) Greyhound, Tweeting that there was no place for such “dangerous” rhetoric.

Smith is right, there is no place in civilized society for the violent, anti-American rhetoric espoused by the right wing, including the Oath Keepers. Unfortunately, we all know Smith won’t be going to Concerned Women for America, or the Family Research Council, or American Family Association, or any other right-wing extremist group and telling them that. He, like his fellows in Congress, will continue to publicly decry the most heinous examples of hate-mongering and incitement to violence, while quietly nodding assent to the ideas behind the “misspoken” or “hyperbolic” words.

Szabo, like Akin, has refused to suspend his campaign, despite calls to do so from the highest ranking Republicans in the state.

Thanks to Imma for the link to Szabo’s recent Pennsylvania poultry problem.