GOP senator blocks vote on Army secretary over Guantanamo

Former Speaker Boehner calls Cruz 'Lucifer in the flesh'

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A police detective said the man who acknowledges killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic told people after his arrest that he believes a move by defense attorneys to have him declared mentally incompetent is part of a plot to diminish his message opposing abortion. Colorado Springs Detective Jerry Schiffelbein testified Thursday that 57-year-old Robert Dear made a number of phone calls after he was charged with 179 counts including murder, attempted murder and assault for the Nov. 27 shooting that also injured nine. He said Dear told people he believed federal agents were out to get him before he decided to make his last stand by attacking what he called the "evilest place on Earth." A judge ordered Dear's mental evaluation after he announced he wanted to fire his public defenders and represent himself. His defense wants him committed to a psychiatric hospital. If a judge agrees, Dear's case would stall indefinitely while he gets treatment. During a previous courtroom outburst, Dear declared himself a "warrior for the babies" and said he was guilty. Authorities say Dear made dozens of calls to reporters and friends from jail saying he believed he was being persecuted by the FBI. Dear said he believed FBI agents broke into his isolated home in Hartsel and tore his clothing and later followed him to the clinic where the shootings occurred. He said the FBI agents disappeared before the shootings. During an outburst in the courtroom on Thursday, Dear shouted "I forgive her" after the detective testified that Dear believed the FBI turned his longtime girlfriend against him and got her to spy on him.

Mental exam focus of hearing in Colorado clinic shooting