Police suspect arson in hearth at Wyoming abortion clinic web site

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

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

Might 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min read

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

The blaze damaged the inside of the building below renovation to deal with the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state the place opposition to abortion is widespread.

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

An individual who called authorities before daybreak saw someone operating from the constructing with what gave the impression to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police stated in a Facebook publish. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of identifying the suspect or producing a suspect description, police mentioned. No injuries were reported.

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

“Whether you’re in opposition to abortion or help abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” said 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 indicators opposing abortion have been seen Wednesday in a window of an house subsequent door to the building.

Wyoming is certainly one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off law that would immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that will occur quickly.

Police briefly closed off the road the place the small building is positioned as officers investigated. A number of of the constructing's windows have been broken, and smoke harm was seen around one shattered window.