Plot to Murder San Antonio’s Mayor Alleged

SAN ANTONIO — A former Libertarian congressional candidate was accused of trying to hire a “patriot” to kill Mayor Henry G. Cisneros, authorities said Wednesday.

Parker E. Abell, 74, a tax protester who claims to head a political extremist group called the American Patriots, was held without bail in Bexar County Jail on charges of solicitation of capital murder.

Abell, who had been under surveillance for about a month, was arrested Tuesday after agreeing to pay an undercover officer $5,000 to kill Cisneros, Dist. Atty. Fred Rodriguez said.

“He was doing it to make a statement. He wanted to get publicity,” Rodriguez said. “It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing. It was thought out. He is firm in his convictions and somehow or another he wanted a hit man with the same resolve, the same philosophy.

Not Just Any Killer

“He just didn’t want anybody. He wanted a patriot to carry out the execution,” said Rodriguez, who met with the mayor Wednesday to discuss the threat.

Cisneros, 40, a four-term mayor and former president of the National League of Cities, said he was not getting additional protection and joked that he was insulted he was worth only $5,000.

Abell, a resident of Natalia, 18 miles east of San Antonio, mentioned other possible targets, including State Comptroller Bob Bullock, before deciding on Cisneros, the prosecutor said.

Officers arrested Abell at a supermarket pay phone. In his car were a .22-caliber rifle and “execution warrants” issued by the “Sovereign Court of the People,” police said. The warrants contained blanks for names of public officials to be assassinated.

‘Executed on Sight’

“The above-named traitor or traitors are to be executed on sight,” the warrants read. “Each accused has given public proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt that he or she is a traitor to the people of the United States and the United States Constitution.”

Abell was a Libertarian candidate for the 23rd Congressional District seat in 1982. Gary Johnson, secretary of the Libertarian Party of Texas, said Abell’s affiliation with the party ended in 1985.