Portrait of an American Family is the debut studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on July 19, 1994, by Nothing and Interscope Records. The group was formed in 1989 by vocalist Marilyn Manson and guitarist Daisy Berkowitz, whose names were created by combining the given name of a pop culture icon with the surname of a serial killer: a naming convention which all other band members would conform to for the next seven years. The most prominent lineup of musicians during their formative years included keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy, bassist Gidget Gein and drummer Sara Lee Lucas.
Paul Jennings Hill was an American minister, religious extremist, and anti-abortion terrorist who murdered physician John Britton and Britton's bodyguard, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Barrett, in 1994. Hill was sentenced to death by lethal injection and was executed on September 3, 2003.
Brian Hugh Warner, known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band that shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since its formation in 1989. Known for his controversial stage personality, his stage name was formed by combining the names of two opposing American cultural icons: actress Marilyn Monroe and cult leader Charles Manson.
Army of God (AOG) is an American Christian terrorist organization, members of which have perpetrated anti-abortion violence. According to the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security's joint Terrorism Knowledge Base, the Army of God is an active underground terrorist organization in the United States. In addition to numerous property crimes, the group has committed acts of kidnapping, attempted murder, and murder. The AOG was formed in 1982 and, while sharing a common ideology and tactics, the group's members claim that they rarely communicate with each other; this is known more formally as leaderless resistance. The group forbids those who wish to "take action against babykilling abortionists" from discussing their plans with anyone in advance.
Anti-abortion violence is violence committed against individuals and organizations that perform abortions or provide abortion counseling. Incidents of violence have included destruction of property, including vandalism; crimes against people, including kidnapping, stalking, assault, attempted murder, and murder; and crimes affecting both people and property, as well as arson and terrorism, such as bombings.
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act is a United States law that was signed by President Bill Clinton in May 1994, which prohibits the following three things: (1) the use of physical force, threat of physical force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person who is obtaining an abortion, (2) the use of physical force, threat of physical force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person who is exercising or trying to exercise their First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship, (3) the intentional damage or destruction of a reproductive health care facility or a place of worship.
Operation Rescue, the operating name of Youth Ministries Inc., is an American anti-abortion organization. The organization originated in California and is now based in Kansas.
Reverend Michael Bray is an American Lutheran minister who was convicted in 1985, along with two other defendants of two counts of conspiracy and one count of possessing unregistered explosive devices in relation to seven bombings of women's health clinics and three offices of women's health advocacy groups in Washington, D.C., Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Bray and his wife, Jayne, are the named defendants in the Supreme Court decision Bray v. Alexandria, a ruling that determined anti-abortion demonstrators could not block entrances to abortion clinics in order to stop patients from entering to receive services.
George Richard Tiller was an American physician and abortion provider from Wichita, Kansas. He gained national attention as the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, which, at the time, was one of only three abortion clinics nationwide that provided late-term abortions.
Rachelle Ranae "Shelley" Shannon is an American anti-abortion extremist who was convicted in a Kansas state court for the attempted murder of George Tiller by shooting him in his car in Wichita, Kansas in 1993. She was also convicted in U.S. federal court for ten attacks at abortion clinics using arson or acid. At her sentencing in U.S. District Court in 1995, the presiding judge described Shannon as a terrorist and agreed with prosecutors that she was a threat even from behind bars. She served her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Waseca, Minnesota and was released in November 2018.
An abortionclinic escort is an individual who volunteers at an abortion clinic or family planning clinic. Their role is to assist patients and staff to enter and exit these facilities safely, and to prevent any potential harassment or danger to individuals. A clinic escort's role at a family planning clinic encompasses myriad different tasks, which can also vary between clinics.
"Get Your Gunn" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on June 9, 1994 as the band's debut single and is from their debut studio album, Portrait of an American Family (1994). The song was written by the band's eponymous vocalist along with original guitarist and bassist Daisy Berkowitz and Gidget Gein, respectively, and was produced by Manson with Trent Reznor. "Get Your Gunn" was inspired by the murder of abortion provider David Gunn by an anti-abortion activist, an event which angered Manson. The song also took influence from Manson's lifelong fascination with abortion and an interaction he had with an anti-abortion protester.
Donald Spitz is an American Pentecostal minister and anti-abortion extremist who serves as the spokesperson and webmaster for the Army of God, an anti-abortion Christian terrorist organization that has been identified as an active underground terrorist organization by the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security's joint Terrorism Knowledge Base. He lives in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he has been watched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for over 20 years.
David Francis Leach is an American anti-abortion activist from Des Moines, Iowa. He publishes the Prayer & Action News quarterly newsletter (1989–present), and edits the website The Partnership Machine (1998–present) which covers social issues including abortion, politics, religion, immigration, divorce, sodomy, and education.
Rock Is Dead was a worldwide arena tour by American rock band Marilyn Manson in 1999. It was the second tour launched in support of their third full-length studio LP, Mechanical Animals, which was released on September 15, 1998.
John Bayard Britton was an American physician. He was assassinated in Pensacola, Florida, by anti-abortion extremist Paul Jennings Hill. Britton's death was the second assassination of a Pensacola abortion provider in under a year and a half; he had replaced David Gunn after the latter's 1993 murder by another anti-abortionist.
American Family Planning, formerly known as The Ladies Center and as Community Healthcare Center, was a clinic in Pensacola, Florida, providing abortions and other women's healthcare services. It is notable as the site of a number of acts of anti-abortion violence.
John Allen Burt was an American Christian fundamentalist, anti-abortion activist, domestic terrorist, and convicted child molester who called himself the "spiritual adviser" to murderers Michael Griffin and Paul Hill and other anti-abortionists. Burt ran "Our Father's House", which began as a Christian ministry and shelter for unwed mothers, later evolving into a private religious reformatory boarding school for "troubled" teenage girls. In 2003, he was arrested for molesting a 15-year-old girl who was living there. He was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison, where he died in 2013.
Following the massacre at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, one common view was that the violent actions perpetrated by the two shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were due to violent influences in entertainment, specifically those in the music of Marilyn Manson.
Abortion in Florida is generally illegal after six weeks from the woman's last menstrual period, This law came into effect in May 2024, being approved by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis following its passage in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate, with only Republican state legislators supporting. Additionally, pregnant women are generally required to make two visits to a medical facility 24 hours apart to be able to obtain an abortion, in a law approved by Republican Governor Rick Scott in 2015.
