Categories: Post Raid

Marshal Anderson Who Led Raid On IBT Is Fired

Marshal Anderson Who Led Raid On IBT Is Fired

President George W. Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft had decided even before federal Marshal Frank Anderson led the raid on the Indianapolis Baptist Temple that he was expendable. In fact on February 15 just two days after Ashcroft called him personally and congratulated him on a job well done in regards to the raid on the church he was told by the Justice Department that they didn’t need any more good jobs done for them.

The following are excerpts from an article in the February 16 Indianapolis Star: “Thursday , while many on his staff were enjoying the success of Tuesday’s seizure of the Indianapolis Baptist Temple, Anderson came to work at 4:30 a.m. to prepare himself for telling them the news.” “I just wanted them to hear it from me before anyone else.” he said. “I had a very emotional staff meeting.” Anderson said that he received a letter from Sen. Richard Lugar’s merit selection committee announcing his application had been turned down. The letter appeared to have been mailed on Monday, the day before the U.S. Marshals Service’s Special Operations Group put an end to a three month holdout by church members and supporters.”

In the article Anderson said that he had been often pressured to seize the church sooner but waited to make sure that no one would be hurt…”I put my heart and soul into this,” he said. The letter wasn’t entirely unexpected Anderson admitted. The Marshal’s job is a political appointment. With a few exceptions, the marshals in the country’s 94 judicial districts are of the same party as the president. Even though Anderson received this year’s Marshal Service achievement award and his district received top honors as well, Anderson said he knew his chances as a Democrat were slim in a Republican administration.

Anderson said that he had received the congratulations from Ashcroft by phone at a Pacers game the same night of the raid on the church. He said that Ashcroft thanked him and said the country owed him a debt for the way he had handled the temple seizure, in which no one was hurt. The letter telling him he had been turned down came from Lee McNeely, the attorney in charge of Lugar’s selection committee. As the state’s Republican senator, Lugar will recommend candidates for U.S. attorney and Marshal. “I’m glad the raid went well. That’s his job,” McNeely said.

In six face to face meetings with representatives of the Baptist Temple Marshal Anderson had said many times that he did not want to raid the church but that he had a court order to enforce and that he had taken an oath to protect the federal courts. He told us that he was a Christian and had grown up in a Baptist church. He also noted that he was presently a deacon in a Christian church locally. He also said that he had received tremendous pressure from many sources especially the black community who told him that if it had been a black church he would have gone in long ago. He also told Pastor Robert McCurry that he didn’t have to take all of this, meaning the abuse that he was getting from many quarters in regards to the temple situation, and that he had his resignation papers in his desk drawer and could sign them at any time.

No one will probably ever know this side of eternity what really happened in all of this but in the light of the events of the last few days one cannot but help to ask questions. If the Marshal a Democrat thought that he didn’t have a chance to continue in the Marshals job under a Republican administration then why did he turn in an application? He had already received the highest commendations possible for a U.S. Marshal. His office here in Indianapolis had received the highest of awards too. If he didn’t think that he had a chance why didn’t he just sign his resignation letter that he told Pastor Robert McCurry he had in his desk and leave on top with his head held high. Why would he stay and take a chance on being fired? Could it be that with all of the acclaims that he received that he figured that they wouldn’t dare fire him and the reason that he tendered an application is because he really believed that he would be kept by this administration even though he is a Democrat. After all Bush has kept some Democrats on in various offices.

Why didn’t he carry the raid out on the church the two weeks before the Bush inauguration? In a meeting with him on Friday the 5th of January Debbie Westbrook General Counsel in the Justice Department told us that the Marshal was under pressure from his bosses to carry out the raid within the next two weeks. Was there an unwritten moratorium from the time that Pastor Greg A. Dixon and Att. Al Cunningham had their meeting in Washington, D.C. that kept the Marshal from coming in for the time mentioned above? If there was a moratorium then why did he decide to raid the church on February 13? Who gave him his orders. It is obvious to any reasonable person that he would not have made the decision on his own. Ashcroft would have to have signed off on it and maybe even the President.

Was the Marshal used as the Pharisees used Pilate and Judas to betray and crucify the Lord Jesus. Did the Marshal think that if he carried out a successful raid on the church that the Bush administration would not dare let him go? These are intriguing questions. Lets pray that the Lord will unlock the puzzle and reveal who is really responsible for the raid on the church.