UPDATE: According to one person who spoke with the New York Times, Dear reportedly praised the Army of God and others who commit violence against abortion providers:

A number of people who knew Mr. Dear said he was a staunch abortion opponent, though another ex-wife, Pamela Ross, said that he did not obsess on the subject. After his arrest, Mr. Dear said “no more baby parts” to investigators, a law enforcement official said. One person who spoke with him extensively about his religious views said Mr. Dear, who is 57, had praised people who attacked abortion providers, saying they were doing “God’s work.” In 2009, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concerns for the privacy of the family, Mr. Dear described as “heroes” members of the Army of God, a loosely organized group of anti-abortion extremists that has claimed responsibility for a number of killings and bombings.

An activist associated with the militant anti-abortion group Army of God, which has been linked to several terrorist attacks on abortion providers, has posted a brief statement on his website declaring that Planned Parenthood got what it deserved with last week’s shooting at a Colorado Springs clinic that left three dead:

Planned Parenthood Colorado Springs Robert Lewis Dear aside, Planned Parenthood murders helpless preborn children. These murderous pigs at Planned Parenthood are babykillers and they reap what they sow. In this case, Planned Parenthood selling of aborted baby parts came back to bite them. Anyone who supports abortion has the blood of babies on their hands.

Virginia-based anti-abortion activist Donald Spitz, who runs the “Army of God” website, similarly stated after Dr. George Tiller was murdered that the he “reaped what he sowed” and hosts a page celebrating those who have been convicted of murdering and attempting to murder abortion doctors. Spitz also promotes the 1993 “Defensive Action Statement,” signed by 34 anti-choice activists including Hill, which says that those who kill abortion providers “ought to be acquitted of the charges” against them because people should take “all godly action necessary to defend innocent human life including the use of force.”

MSNBC’s Irin Carmon spoke with Spitz, who told her that anti-choice groups that condemned the Colorado Springs shooting are “hypocritical” and “into political correctness way too far.” Spitz said that he was not against the shooter’s actions and will be “reaching out to him.”

“There are no innocent people in Planned Parenthood,” he said. “They’re in there for a reason.”