Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic website

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 deliberately set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

Could 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 — probably by someone seen operating away from the constructing carrying what seemed to be a gas can and a bag.

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

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

An individual who called authorities before daybreak noticed somebody running from the constructing with what appeared to be a gas can and a black bag, police said in a Facebook post. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the realm in hopes of identifying the suspect or producing a suspect description, police stated. No injuries 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 have been functioning, and police were given access to them, she said.

“Whether or not you’re towards abortion or support abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” stated Burkhart, a former associate 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 at the future clinic website, and signs opposing abortion were seen Wednesday in a window of an apartment next door to the building.

Wyoming is one among 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger legislation that might instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Courtroom. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that will occur quickly.

Police briefly closed off the road where the small constructing is situated as officers investigated. A number of of the constructing's home windows have been broken, and smoke damage was seen round one shattered window.