Police suspect arson in fireplace at Wyoming abortion clinic web site

Police imagine an in a single day fireplace in Wyoming that broken a building being renovated to accommodate 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 subsequent month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a hearth early Wednesday that police imagine was intentionally set — possibly by somebody seen running away from the constructing carrying what gave the impression to be a fuel can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the inside of the constructing under renovation to house the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest city in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

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

A person who referred to as authorities earlier than dawn saw someone running from the building with what appeared to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Facebook put up. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the realm in hopes of identifying the suspect or producing a suspect description, police mentioned. No accidents have been reported.

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

“Whether you’re in opposition to abortion or support 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 site, and signs opposing abortion were seen Wednesday in a window of an house next door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one in all 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger regulation that will instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that will occur soon.

Police quickly closed off the street where the small constructing is situated as officers investigated. A number of of the constructing's windows had been damaged, and smoke harm was seen around one shattered window.