Hearing Set for September 8 : Clinic Bomb Suspect Pleads Innocent

Eric Everett Svelmoe pleaded innocent Thursday to five federal counts involving the attempted bombing of a clinic where abortions are performed.

Svelmoe, 29, an El Cajon resident, is being held without bail in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Svelmoe, a member of the fundamentalist Bible Missionary Fellowship church in Santee, whose members often picket clinics that provide abortions, is charged with possession and construction of the bomb found Monday morning at Family Planning Associates Medical Group in San Diego.

He is also accused of attempted bombing, interstate transportation of black gunpowder and carrying a firearm during a violent crime.

U.S. Magistrate Roger McKee set a Sept. 8 date for hearing motions in the case.

A detention hearing had been scheduled for Thursday, but Svelmoe’s attorney, Richard Boesen, asked for a delay because he said it was scheduled on short notice. The hearing was reset for Aug. 12.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Larry Burns is seeking to have Svelmoe held without bail, claiming Svelmoe is a danger to the community.

Svelmoe was arrested at 3:30 a.m. Monday after a man was seen leaving the clinic, situated in the Alvarado Medical Group complex on Alvarado Road. A pipe bomb attached to a two-gallon can of gasoline was found under a stairway at the clinic.