Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police consider an in a single day fire in Wyoming that damaged a building being renovated to deal with a brand new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated 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 damaged in a fire early Wednesday that police consider was deliberately set — possibly by someone seen running away from the building carrying what seemed to be a fuel can and a bag.

The blaze broken the within of the constructing underneath renovation to house the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which also deliberate to offer different health care providers for women, had been set to open in June as solely the second place within the state to offer abortions. Wyoming’s present 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 daybreak saw someone running from the constructing with what appeared to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police stated in a Facebook submit. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of identifying the suspect or producing a suspect description, police stated. No accidents were reported.

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

“Whether you’re against abortion or support abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” said Burkhart, a former affiliate 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 site, and indicators opposing abortion were seen Wednesday in a window of an apartment next door to the building.

Wyoming is one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off legislation that may immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade choice that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that can occur soon.

Police briefly closed off the street where the small building is positioned as officers investigated. A number of of the building's home windows had been broken, and smoke damage was visible round one shattered window.