Police suspect arson in hearth at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police believe an overnight hearth in Wyoming that damaged a constructing 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 read

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

The blaze broken the within 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 deliberate to provide different well being care companies for ladies, had been set to open in June as only the second place in 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.

An individual who referred to as authorities earlier than dawn saw someone working from the building with what gave the impression to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Fb submit. Investigators had been reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of identifying the suspect or generating a suspect description, police stated. No injuries had been reported.

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

“Whether or not you’re in opposition to abortion or assist abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” said 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 website, and signs opposing abortion had been seen Wednesday in a window of an residence next door to the building.

Wyoming is one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger legislation that will immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that can happen quickly.

Police briefly closed off the street the place the small building is located as officers investigated. A number of of the building's windows have been broken, and smoke injury was visible around one shattered window.