Professional-choice group claims arson attack on Wisconsin anti-abortion workplace | Wisconsin

Federal agents and detectives from the Madison police department are investigating a claim by a pro-choice group that it was behind a weekend arson assault on an anti-abortion workplace in Wisconsin.

The headquarters of Wisconsin Family Motion in Madison was attacked within the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown by means of a window, starting a small fire, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No person was hurt.

In a press release reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which mentioned it was unable to verify the group’s authenticity, Jane’s Revenge stated it launched the attack because of the group’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that related establishments throughout the US disband or face “increasingly extreme techniques”.

“Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, however we're all over the US, and we will issue no further warnings,” the statement stated, citing the violence of anti-choice teams who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate medical doctors with impunity” as justification.

The Madison attack came days after the leaking of a supreme court draft ruling that may overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade choice and end nearly half a century of constitutional abortion protections.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) advised the Guardian that its brokers had been conscious of the group’s claims of responsibility, however cited the continuing investigation for being unable to present extra details.

The Madison police division mentioned it was “conscious of a group claiming responsibility for the arson at Wisconsin Household Motion and are working with our federal partners to find out the veracity of that claim”.

It urged anybody with relevant information to make contact, saying: “We take all info and ideas associated to this case significantly and are working to vet every one.”

At a press conference on Monday afternoon, the Madison PD and ATF brokers introduced a joint investigation into what it referred to as an “abortion extremism case involving an arson and graffiti attack of a pro-life advocacy office in Madison”.

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, mentioned no suspects had so far been identified. Authorities were anticipated to give an additional replace on Tuesday afternoon.

In a values statement on its web site, Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) describes itself as a Judeo-Christian group devoted to “strengthening, preserving, and promoting marriage, family, life and liberty.

“We support the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception through pure demise. This includes opposing laws that promotes the destruction of human life – which starts at conception – via abortion and other means,” it says.

Jack Hoogendyk, the WFA board chairman, attacked the response to the attack in a tweet posted on Tuesday morning, singling out Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, and Madison PD detectives.

“We need to see a much stronger message of condemnation of this exercise from our Governor [and] from native law enforcement,” he wrote.

At a press conference on Monday, Evers referred to as the attack “a horrible incident”.

Calling for a full investigation and arrests, he added: “As the state of Wisconsin, we don’t accept that sort of violence here.”

An attack on an anti-abortion workplace is a relative rarity in contrast with assaults on abortion clinics and suppliers. In 2019, the Guardian reported on an “alarming escalation” in picketing, vandalism and trespassing by anti-abortion activists at medical facilities.

Arson, bombings, murders and acid attacks were among greater than 300 acts of maximum violence recorded by the Rand Corporation between 1973 and 2003, and in probably the most heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion supplier, was shot lifeless in a church in Wichita.

In March, MS journal reported that the number of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly due to the constant menace of violence against personnel. Six states, MS said, had just one abortion provider, largely small, independent operators who were thought-about most at risk.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming rate,” the article stated. “Independent suppliers are essentially the most weak to anti-abortion attacks and violence directed at their workers.”