Moments before being denied bail Thursday, anti-abortion activist Clayton Waagner chatted jovially with reporters, saying he saw himself featured on TV's America's Most Wanted last weekend and was surprised U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft placed him on the FBI's Top 10 fugitives list.

        He didn't hold it against Mr. Ashcroft, he said, because the attorney general also opposes abortion rights.

Waagner

        “He was just doing his job,” Mr. Waagner said of Mr. Ashcroft. “I understand he's anti-abortion also. He's a good man.”

        Mr. Waagner appeared at a brief hearing in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, where prosecutors laid out a litany of federal charges, including carjacking and a string of bank robbery and firearm charges in six states, including Ohio.

        “That was unexpected,” Mr. Waagner said.

        He is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, stemming from his arrest Wednesday at a Springdale Kinko's store in which he had a loaded .40-caliber handgun tucked in his waistband, police said.

        He faces a minimum of 15 years to life in prison on that charge alone, but an avalanche of indictments were announced Thursday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Behlen before federal Magistrate Timothy S. Hogan.

        Defense attorney W. Kelly Johnson, a public defender, attributed Mr. Waagner's smiling demeanor to the fact that, at 45, Mr. Waagner is resigned to growing old behind bars if convicted.

CHARGES

Charges against Clayton Lee Waagner, the jurisdiction and maximum sentence: Southern District of Ohio     • Felon in possession of a firearm, 15 years to life. Central District of Illinois     • Felon in possession of a firearm, 15 years to life*.     • Possession of a stolen vehicle, 10 years*.     • Escape from custody, 5 years. Northern District of Mississippi     • Carjacking, 15 years.     • Use of firearm during violent crime, 7 years.     • Felon in possession of a firearm, 15 years to life. Western District of Tennessee     • Possession of an unregistered destructive device (pipe bomb), 10 years.     • Felon in possession of a firearm, 15 years to life. (Two counts)     • Fugitive from justice in possession of a firearm, 15 years to life. (Two counts) Middle District of Pennsylvania     • Bank robbery, 20 years.    Northern District of West Virginia     • Bank robbery, 20 years.    * Denotes conviction, escaped while awaiting sentencing.    Source: United States District Court

        Mr. Waagner, who has described himself as an anti-abortion “warrior” for God, will be held in the Hamilton County Justice Center until a federal grand jury meets Wednesday. A preliminary examination is set for next Friday.

        Though he has not yet been charged, Mr. Waagner is suspected by federal authorities of sending more than 500 hoax anthrax letters to abortion providers in October and November.

        A U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman in Columbus confirmed late Thursday that a search warrant was executed for the stolen Mercedes that Mr. Waagner allegedly was driving.

        He has been a federal fugitive since his February escape from a county jail in Illinois.

        Mr. Waagner's activities have been divisive among some in the anti-abortion movement. He is believed to have compiled a list of 42 people connected with abortion whom he planned to kill.

        In September, when Mr. Waagner was added to the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List, the group Pro-Life Virginia responded with a press release that said, in part: “Putting Clayton Waagner on the FBI's ten most wanted list shows a major loss of perspective, and points out that the present administration is still in the pocket of the pro-abortionists.”

        The group, found on the web site ArmyofGod.com, added, “Clayton Lee Waagner has never physically harmed anyone and has stated that his purpose is to save unborn children from being murdered at abortion mills and at the hands of Planned Parenthood.”

        The Chesapeake, Va. group did not respond to an e-mail request for comment Thursday from the Enquirer. It does not have a listed phone number.

        On its Web site, Mr. Waagner is quoted in a Nov. 23 taped discussion as saying, “I know I can't kill them all. But I have a list of 42, and this is to that 42: I know where you live; I know what you drive.”

        He adds, “If I kill 42 people, by golly, I'm going to get some attention.”

        Lynn Grefe, national director of the New York-based Republican Pro-Choice Coalition, said Thursday: “The fact is that abortion is legal. These clinics provide a wide range of health services and, yes, abortion services. Nobody should be nervous about going in to get legal services.”
   

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