FBI to Probe Incident at Abortion Clinic

In a shift from its past practice of declining to investigate violence at abortion clinics, the Justice Department disclosed Wednesday that it is looking into an incident in which an off-duty policeman allegedly pushed and injured a woman last month while he was picketing an abortion clinic in Brooklyn.

But Justice Department spokesman John Wilson said the investigation does not represent a change of departmental policy. He said the department has decided to investigate the case because it involves a “special situation”--the possible assault by a police officer who may have been acting “under color of law.”

Assistant Atty. Gen. William Bradford Reynolds, who heads the civil rights division, said in a letter to California Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose) that FBI agents will investigate information provided by Edwards about a pushing incident at the Brooklyn clinic. The incident involved an off-duty policeman, Russell Bjune, who was among protesters picketing the clinic on his day off, and Patricia Toro, who was accompanying a friend to the clinic.

Toro was taken into custody on charges of resisting arrest after scuffling with Bjune, according to police officials. They said she had suffered a large bruise on her head. After arriving at the station house, Toro filed a complaint against Bjune, accusing him of blocking her exit from the clinic and shoving her against a wall, authorities said.

Appropriate Action Pledged

Reynolds told Edwards that “you can be assured that if the evidence shows that there was a violation of federal criminal civil rights statutes, appropriate action will be taken.” Edwards, chairman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on civil and constitutional rights, released Reynolds’ letter at a hearing on abortion clinic violence.

After the hearing, Wilson said: “We have no authority under civil rights statutes to investigate abortion clinic violence unless it results from a conspiracy or is perpetrated by someone in a law enforcement capacity.”

Justice Department officials previously have declined to investigate bombings or other violence at abortion clinics on grounds that there was no evidence the acts constituted domestic terrorism or resulted from a conspiracy to violate anyone’s civil rights.

Another federal agency, the Treasury Department’s bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms, is investigating abortion clinic bombings based on possible violations of regulations governing firearms and explosives. Civil rights groups and some members of Congress have been critical of the Justice Department for not playing a major role in the probes.