Explosion Near Clinic Ruled Accidental

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Police and federal investigators now say that the explosion Wednesday morning in front of a Washington, D.C. Planned Parenthood clinic a mile from the White House was not aimed at the center. According to police, the explosion occurred after a hotel worker picked up the fuse for a practice grenade from the street. Federal officials, already on top alert for a possible wave of violence on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, thought at first that the explosion must be connected to the adjacent clinic. Early reports said that the man carrying the device had been seen running toward the Mayflower Hotel, where Vice President Al Gore and Hillary Clinton were expected to attend a meeting of abortion rights activists later in the day. No injuries were reported at the clinic. In a televised statement, President Clinton denounced the explosion, saying that there "is never any excuse for violence because of someone exercising their constitutional right." The rest of the day passed without incident as Washington spent the day under heightened security while anti-abortion activists rallied for their annual march to protest the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.