FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1997                         (202) 616-2777
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


             STATEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO
              ON THE BOMBING OF AN ATLANTA NIGHTCLUB

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Attorney General Janet Reno today issued
the following statement regarding the two bombs placed outside
the Otherside Lounge, a lesbian nightclub in Atlanta, this
weekend.  The incident occurred five weeks after two other bombs
were placed outside an Atlanta-area family planning clinic.

     "The bombing this weekend at the Otherside Lounge was
another despicable act of domestic terrorism.

     "The FBI and ATF, working together with other federal and
State authorities, have been exhaustively examining all evidence
and pursuing all motives, including the possibility that the
crime was motivated by the sexual orientation of the patrons at
the club.  We also are looking into the possibility that this
incident is related to other bombing incidents in the Atlanta
area.

     "Although federal hate crime statutes do not provide for the
prosecution of offenses motivated by a victim's sexual
orientation, existing statutes do provide penalties of up to life
imprisonment for individuals who carry out bombings.  And under
President Clinton's 1994 Crime Control Act, if the crime was
motivated by the sexual orientation of the victims, federal
prosecutors can seek to increase any sentence imposed on the
bomber.

     "We will not rest until the perpetrators are brought to
justice."
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97-083