Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic web site

Police consider an in a single day fireplace in Wyoming that damaged a constructing being renovated to house a new abortion clinic was deliberately set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press

May 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min learn

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a hearth early Wednesday that police believe was intentionally set — presumably by someone seen operating away from the building carrying what appeared to be a gasoline can and a bag.

The blaze broken the inside of the constructing beneath renovation to accommodate the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state the place opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which also planned to provide other well being care providers for ladies, had been set to open in June as only the second place in the state to supply abortions. Wyoming’s present lone location for women to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

An individual who known as authorities before daybreak noticed somebody running from the building with what appeared to be a fuel can and a black bag, police stated in a Fb post. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of figuring out the suspect or generating a suspect description, police said. No injuries have been reported.

Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s director, stated clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and phone messages. The constructing had video cameras that have been functioning, and police were given access to them, she said.

“Whether or not you’re towards abortion or support abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” stated Burkhart, a former associate of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion supplier who was shot and killed in a Wichita, Kansas, church in 2009.

Protests have been held this spring by abortion opponents on the future clinic website, and signs opposing abortion had been seen Wednesday in a window of an residence next door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one in all 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off legislation that might immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade choice that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Courtroom. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that will occur quickly.

Police briefly closed off the road where the small constructing is situated as officers investigated. Several of the constructing's windows had been broken, and smoke damage was seen around one shattered window.