For Immediate Release  
 Contact: Tracy Hite  
 (415) 744-7001 or  
 (415) 469-3245
                                           Date: February 10, 1998

   

      SERIAL ABORTION CLINIC ARSONIST PLEADS
                                 GUILTY
                                       

 Sacramento--The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the United States Attorney's
 Office announce the guilty plea of Richard T. Andrews for multiple counts of arson. Andrews
 terrorized abortion clinics and providers in California, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming for a period
 lasting four years. Andrews plead guilty to setting eight fires at seven clinics. As a result of Andrews’
 four-year rampage, clinic facilities suffered total losses in excess of $1 million.  

 ATF Special Agents identified similarities in the incidents that occurred between January 18, 1992 and
 September 18, 1995. ATF’s investigation lead to Andrews, well-known as a leader in protest
 blockades and anti-abortion activity in the early 1980's. Andrews was apprehended on June 26, 1996,
 by the Vancouver, Washington City Police Department after officers stopped him for negligent
 driving.  

 ATF Assistant Director Patrick D. Hynes said, " The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
 remains committed to pursuing anyone who would violate federal firearms and/or explosives laws and
 risk injuring or killing others in furtherance of a cause."  

 ATF  applauds the teamwork of its Special Agents and Forensic Chemists; the United States
 Attorney's Offices in the Eastern District of California, District of Montana, District of Idaho, District
 of Wyoming, and the Eastern District of Washington; the police and fire departments in Redding and
 Chico, California; Helena, Kalispell and Missoula, Montana; Boise, Idaho; Jackson, Wyoming; and
 Wanatchee and Vancouver, Washington Police Departments; and the Federal Bureau of
 Investigation.  

 For more information about ATF's efforts in the investigation of arson and explosives incidents against
 abortion clinics and reproductive service providers, please see  the ATF web site at
 www.atf.treas.gov.