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

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

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

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

“Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, however we're everywhere in the US, and we are going to issue no further warnings,” the assertion mentioned, citing the violence of anti-choice groups who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate medical doctors with impunity” as justification.

The Madison attack got here days after the leaking of a supreme court draft ruling that might overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade resolution and finish almost 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 agents were conscious of the group’s claims of responsibility, but cited the continued investigation for being unable to present more details.

The Madison police department mentioned it was “aware of a bunch claiming duty for the arson at Wisconsin Family Action and are working with our federal partners to find out the veracity of that declare”.

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

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

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, mentioned no suspects had thus far been recognized. Authorities had been expected to present an additional replace on Tuesday afternoon.

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

“We help the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception by natural loss of life. This contains opposing legislation 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 have to see a much stronger message of condemnation of this exercise from our Governor [and] from native regulation enforcement,” he wrote.

At a press conference on Monday, Evers known as the assault “a horrible incident”.

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

An assault on an anti-abortion office is a relative rarity compared with assaults on abortion clinics and providers. In 2019, the Guardian reported on an “alarming escalation” in picketing, vandalism and trespassing by anti-abortion activists at medical services.

Arson, bombings, murders and acid assaults have been among more than 300 acts of utmost violence recorded by the Rand Corporation between 1973 and 2003, and in one of the vital heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, was shot dead 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 stated, had just one abortion provider, principally small, unbiased operators who have been thought-about most at risk.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming fee,” the article mentioned. “Impartial suppliers are probably the most weak to anti-abortion attacks and violence directed at their staff.”