WMR has learned from sources in South Bend, Indiana, that the town and campus have become a magnet for every sort of right-wing opposition group to President Barack Obama, including violence-prone anti-abortionists and pro-gun rights activists.

Obama is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at and receive an honorary degree from Notre Dame on May 17.

Already, an anti-abortion group called the Center for Bio-ethical Reform (CBR) is flying a plane trailing a banner with a photograph of a dead fetus over the Notre Dame campus. CBR has also brought large billboard trucks into South Bend that display photos of dismembered fetuses.

The plane circling over the campus has drawn almost unanimous negative responses from students and faculty.

WMR is told by South Bend sources that the anti-abortion convert to Catholicism, Randall Terry, is the actual ringleader of the group of anti-Obama protesters who are gathering by the hour in South Bend.

WMR has also learned that the South Bend Police Department is complaining that it does not have the resources to provide the necessary security for the presidential visit. Although Notre Dame campus security will supplement Secret Service protection, there is a fear among Notre Dame officials that Terry will obtain some difficult-to-obtain commencement tickets and give them to his most radical supporters to stage a disruption during Obama�s speech.

Protesters outside of and on the campus will not be permitted to get anywhere close to the president, WMR is told by Notre Dame sources.

Notre Dame faculty sources also worry that Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins, who has incurred the wrath of the anti-abortion camp by inviting Obama to Notre Dame, may be subjected to violence off-campus.

The fear among Notre Dame students and faculty, who are overwhelmingly supportive of Obama�s visit to Notre Dame, is that Terry and his supporters will incite violence by those coming into South Bend to stop what they see as �mass murder.�

To make matters worse for Notre Dame, it is being reported that there is a case of suspected swine flu on campus. With anti-Obama protesters from different parts of the country in town, that news will come as little relief for those public health officials wishing to prevent a national pandemic.

Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.

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