Obama TSA Nominee Erroll Southers Calls Pro-Life Advocates Terrorists in Video

Obama TSA Nominee Erroll Southers Calls Pro-Life Advocates Terrorists in Video

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 11, 2010

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama's nominee to head the agency charged with keeping American travelers safe from terrorism thinks pro-life advocates are terrorists. A new video shows Transportation Security Administration nominee Erroll Southers including pro-life advocates in a list of terrorist groups.

The new video from 2008 shows Southers responding to a documentary-style interview question about terrorist organizations.

The documentary asked Southers, "Which home-grown terrorist groups pose the greatest danger to the U.S."

Southers explained, "Most of the domestic groups that we pay attention to here are white supremacist groups. They're anti-government, in most cases anti-abortion, they are usually survivalist type in nature, identity oriented."

"Those groups are groups that claim to be extremely anti-government and Christian identity oriented," he continues.

Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican, has put a hold on the nomination of Southers to head the TSA, and the new video is likely to expand opposition to his nomination.

Erick Erickson of the Red State blog posted a response to the video blasting Southers for his targeting of pro-life advocates and Christians as terrorists.

He said there is "new and far more troubling information about Mr. Southers caught on video. According to Erroll Southers, pro-life Christians and our support of Jews is a bigger threat to national security than Al Qaeda."

"Southers, in 2008, said he was more worried about 'Christian identity' terrorist groups inside the U.S. than Islamic terrorists. What are 'Christian identity' terrorist groups? White-supremacists naturally. The KKK. And the Southern Baptist Convention," Erickson added. "Southers identifies pro-life groups and anti-government activists as particular problems."

Erickson also applauds DeMint for stopping the nomination.

"Had [he] not put a hold on the nomination of Erroll Southers to be the head of TSA, he might have been confirmed by the Senate without any serious digging into his background," he said.

The Obama administration has twice come under fire for linking pro-life advocates to terrorism.

Last May, details emerged about a terrorism dictionary the Obama administration put together in March. The "Domestic Extremism Lexicon," was essentially a terrorism and political extremism dictionary for the Obama administration's internal use.

The March 26, 2009 document features numerous definitions and the headline "antiabortion extremism," appears on page two of the eleven-page manual.

The Obama administration calls pro-life advocates violent and claims they employ racist overtones in engaging in criminal actions.

The definition reads: "A movement of groups or individuals who are virulently antiabortion and advocate violence against providers of abortion-related services, their employees, and their facilities. Some cite various racist and anti-Semitic beliefs to justify their criminal activities."

That followed a report the Department of Homeland Security sent out saying pro-life advocates were right-wing extremists.

In that document, the Department of Homeland Security warned law officials about a supposed rise in "rightwing extremist activity," saying the poor economy and presence of a black president could spark problems.

According to the Washington Times, a footnote attached to the nine-page report from the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis say the activities of pro-life advocates is included in "rightwing extremism in the United States."

"It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single-issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration," the warning said.