A man accused of threatening abortion clinics compared himself in court Tuesday to abolitionist John Brown.

        Clayton Lee Waagner told a Cincinnati jury in U.S. District Court that the multiple gun charges against him are similar to the charges once faced by the famous abolitionist.

Waagner

        Like John Brown, Mr. Waagner said, he is known by some as a “religious fanatic.” And like Brown, he was labeled by the government as one of the most wanted men in America.

        “It's an interesting parallel,” Mr. Waagner said in his opening statement to the jury. “In the end, he was considered not a religious fanatic, but a man who ushered in a right cause.”

        Mr. Waagner, who is acting as his own attorney, faces more than 20 years in prison if he is convicted of the firearms and stolen-weapon charges.

        He was arrested Dec. 5 at a Kinko's store in Springdale after a sales clerk recognized him from an FBI flier describing America's 10 most wanted fugitives.

        Mr. Waagner, 45, had escaped federal custody in Illinois months earlier. Authorities say he stole several guns and a Mercedes Benz while he was on the run.

        He also is suspected of mailing hundreds of fake anthrax letters to abortion clinics across the country, including at least one in Cincinnati.

        Although his trial in Cincinnati does not deal with the anthrax case, Mr. Waagner has filed court documents that claim the firearms charges are connected to his anti-abortion views.

        In one court filing, Mr. Waagner claimed that he acted “out of necessity” to protect the lives of unborn children.

        Mr. Waagner had asked Judge Susan Dlott to let him call several witnesses, including abortion clinic officials, to bolster his argument. The judge refused and told him he did not have enough evidence to argue that he acted out of necessity.

        But throughout the first day of his trial, Mr. Waagner asked questions and made statements that indicate he still intends to make abortion the centerpiece of his case.

        While questioning a deputy U.S. marshal, Mr. Waagner suggested his actions were motivated by his opposition to abortion.

        “You had an objective to invoke terror on people,” responded the marshal, Jason Wojdylo.

        In his opening statement, Mr. Waagner compared himself to John Brown, who was hanged in 1859 for a failed attempt to seize a federal armory and lead a slave uprising.

        The prosecution objected several times to Mr. Waagner's arguments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Behlen said the case is relatively simple: Mr. Waagner was a fugitive who stole several guns and a car.

        He said Mr. Waagner admitted to police that he stole the guns and car. In court Tuesday, Mr. Waagner did not dispute that contention.

        He did, however, insist that his trial is “not a simple gun case.”

        He also repeatedly pointed out that he was the only person to ever be on the most wanted lists of the FBI, the U.S. Marshal's office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

        “No one's ever done that before,” Mr. Waagner said.

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