Anaheim : Anti-Terrorism Group Unveils Poster of Victims

An anti-terrorism group unveiled a poster Tuesday to increase public awareness of violent crimes in Orange County and possibly bring witnesses forward to solve them.

The poster, which pictures victims and sites of four violent crimes occurring since 1983, is part of a countywide campaign to get local and political support for solving what the groups call terrorist acts.

Members of the Orange County Anti-Terrorism Coalition began distributing the poster last Friday at local schools, but held a formal unveiling of the poster Tuesday at the Unitarian Church of Orange County in Anaheim.

The poster, headlined “Terrorism Diminishes Orange County,” displays pictures of Arab rights leader Alex Odeh, killed in a bomb blast last Oct. 11; Cal State Fullerton professor Edward Lee Cooperman, slain Oct. 13, 1984; a Planned Parenthood clinic in Santa Ana, firebombed Dec. 23, 1984, and the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Santa Ana, hit by three fires last year.

Violence “doesn’t just happen abroad, but it has happened recently in Orange County,” said Werner Kuhn, a member of the coalition’s steering committee.

“Terrorism has been in the closet, and we need to say to people, ‘Hey, it’s in Orange County and it affects you.’ We’re getting the message out to people around the community.”

The coalition consists of 40 representatives from about 15 groups, including the Orange County Commission on Central America, Interfaith Peace Ministry, Gay and Lesbian Community Service Center and Planned Parenthood, all of Orange County. The coalition also provides support for families of victims.