Pro-choice group claims arson attack on Wisconsin anti-abortion workplace | Wisconsin

Federal brokers and detectives from the Madison police department are investigating a declare by a pro-choice group that it was behind a weekend arson attack on an anti-abortion office in Wisconsin.

The headquarters of Wisconsin Household Action in Madison was attacked within the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown through a window, beginning a small fire, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No one was hurt.

In an announcement reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which stated it was unable to confirm the group’s authenticity, Jane’s Revenge stated it launched the attack because of the group’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that comparable institutions throughout the US disband or face “increasingly excessive tactics”.

“Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, however we're everywhere in the US, and we will difficulty no further warnings,” the statement said, citing the violence of anti-choice teams who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate medical doctors with impunity” as justification.

The Madison attack came days after the leaking of a supreme court draft ruling that would overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade resolution and end almost half a century of constitutional abortion protections.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) informed the Guardian that its agents were conscious of the group’s claims of accountability, but cited the continuing investigation for being unable to give extra details.

The Madison police department said it was “aware of a bunch claiming accountability for the arson at Wisconsin Household Motion and are working with our federal companions to determine the veracity of that claim”.

It urged anybody with relevant information to make contact, saying: “We take all data and suggestions associated to this case significantly and are working to vet every one.”

At a press convention on Monday afternoon, the Madison PD and ATF agents announced a joint investigation into what it referred to as an “abortion extremism case involving an arson and graffiti assault of a pro-life advocacy office in Madison”.

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, said no suspects had to date been recognized. Authorities had been expected to give an extra replace on Tuesday afternoon.

In a values assertion on its website, Wisconsin Household Action (WFA) describes itself as a Judeo-Christian group dedicated to “strengthening, preserving, and promoting marriage, family, life and liberty.

“We support the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception via natural death. This contains opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which starts at conception – by way of abortion and different means,” it says.

Jack Hoogendyk, the WFA board chairman, attacked the response to the attack in a tweet posted on Tuesday morning, singling out Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, and Madison PD detectives.

“We have to see a much stronger message of condemnation of this activity from our Governor [and] from local regulation enforcement,” he wrote.

At a press conference on Monday, Evers referred to as the assault “a horrible incident”.

Calling for a full investigation and arrests, he added: “As the state of Wisconsin, we don’t accept that kind of violence here.”

An attack on an anti-abortion office is a relative rarity in contrast with attacks on abortion clinics and providers. In 2019, the Guardian reported on an “alarming escalation” in picketing, vandalism and trespassing by anti-abortion activists at medical services.

Arson, bombings, murders and acid assaults had been among more than 300 acts of maximum violence recorded by the Rand Corporation between 1973 and 2003, and in probably the most heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, was shot useless in a church in Wichita.

In March, MS journal reported that the number of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly due to the constant risk of violence towards personnel. Six states, MS stated, had only one abortion supplier, principally small, unbiased operators who have been thought-about most at risk.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming price,” the article stated. “Unbiased suppliers are essentially the most vulnerable to anti-abortion assaults and violence directed at their staff.”