Police suspect arson in hearth at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police consider an overnight fireplace in Wyoming that damaged a building being renovated to house a new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related 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 damaged in a hearth early Wednesday that police consider was intentionally set — probably by someone seen operating away from the building carrying what gave the impression to be a gasoline can and a bag.

The blaze broken the inside of the building beneath renovation to accommodate the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest city in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which also planned to offer other health care companies for girls, had been set to open in June as solely 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.

A person who called authorities before daybreak saw someone running from the building with what seemed to be a gas can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Fb publish. Investigators had been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of figuring out the suspect or generating a suspect description, police said. No accidents had 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 entry to them, she said.

“Whether you’re in opposition to abortion or assist 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 at the future clinic web site, and signs opposing abortion were seen Wednesday in a window of an condo subsequent door to the building.

Wyoming is one among 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off regulation that might 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 can happen soon.

Police temporarily closed off the road where the small building is situated as officers investigated. Several of the building's home windows had been broken, and smoke harm was visible round one shattered window.