Police suspect arson in hearth at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police consider an in a single day fire in Wyoming that damaged a constructing being renovated to house a new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

Could 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min learn

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a fireplace early Wednesday that police imagine was deliberately set — probably by somebody seen running away from the constructing carrying what seemed to be a gas can and a bag.

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

The clinic, which additionally planned to supply other health care services for girls, had been set to open in June as only the second place in the state to supply abortions. Wyoming’s present lone location for ladies to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

An individual who called authorities earlier than dawn saw someone working from the building with what seemed to be a gas can and a black bag, police stated in a Fb submit. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of figuring out the suspect or generating a suspect description, police mentioned. No injuries were reported.

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

“Whether or not you’re towards abortion or assist abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” mentioned Burkhart, a former affiliate 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 at the future clinic website, and indicators opposing abortion had been seen Wednesday in a window of an condominium subsequent door to the building.

Wyoming is one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger legislation that would immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade choice 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 quickly closed off the road the place the small building is located as officers investigated. A number of of the building's home windows had been broken, and smoke injury was visible around one shattered window.