Police suspect arson in fireplace at Wyoming abortion clinic website

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

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

May 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min read

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a hearth early Wednesday that police imagine was intentionally set — possibly by somebody seen working away from the building carrying what seemed to be a gas can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the within of the constructing beneath renovation to accommodate the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest city in a state the place opposition to abortion is widespread.

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

An individual who referred to as authorities earlier than dawn noticed somebody operating from the constructing with what seemed to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police stated in a Fb post. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of figuring out the suspect or generating a suspect description, police mentioned. No accidents have been reported.

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

“Whether you’re in opposition to abortion or help abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” stated Burkhart, a former affiliate of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider 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 visible Wednesday in a window of an house subsequent door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one in every of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off law that will 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 soon.

Police quickly closed off the street the place the small constructing is located as officers investigated. A number of of the building's windows had been damaged, and smoke damage was visible round one shattered window.