Planned Parenthood Shooter Tells Judge He Wants to Represent Himself

Robert Dear, the man who attacked a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic last month which resulted in the killing of three people, announced to a judge he wanted to fire his lawyers and represent himself in court. “I do not want them as my lawyers,” Dear said in a court hearing on Wednesday. “I invoke my constitutional right to defend myself.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Judge Gilbert Martinez ordered Dear to undergo a mental competency evaluation, which he refused. “The question is, do I have a constitutional right to be my own attorney, and if I do, your forced psychiatric evaluation — that is not your right,” Dear said. “How can I trust my attorney when he says in the newspaper that I’m incompetent?” he continued, while stating that evaluators would aim to medicate him and “make me a zombie.” Dear asked the judge, “Do I sound like a zombie? Do I sound like I have no intelligence?”

On November 27, Dear shot and killed three victims, including Army veteran Ke’Arre Stewart, Jennifer Markovsky and Officer Garrett Swasey, during a five-hour standoff with police. Nine others were wounded in the attack. He faces 179 felony charges, including first-degree murder, attempted murder and other charges, AP reports.

During his first court appearance on December 9, Dear declared that he was guilty of the killings and called himself a “warrior for the babies.” His next court appearance is scheduled for February 24.