Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police imagine an in a single day hearth in Wyoming that damaged a constructing being renovated to deal with a brand 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 fire early Wednesday that police believe was intentionally set — presumably by someone seen working away from the building carrying what appeared to be a fuel can and a bag.

The blaze broken the within of the building beneath renovation to deal with the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest city in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which also planned to supply different health care services for girls, had been set to open in June as only the second place within the state to offer abortions. Wyoming’s current lone location for ladies to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

An individual who known as authorities before dawn noticed someone running from the constructing with what appeared to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Facebook put up. Investigators had been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of identifying the suspect or generating a suspect description, police stated. No injuries had been reported.

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

“Whether or not you’re against abortion or help abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” mentioned 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 at the future clinic site, and indicators opposing abortion had been visible Wednesday in a window of an apartment next door to the building.

Wyoming is certainly one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger law that would instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that may occur quickly.

Police temporarily closed off the street the place the small building is situated as officers investigated. Several of the constructing's windows were broken, and smoke damage was seen round one shattered window.