Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic web site

Police believe an overnight hearth in Wyoming that broken a building being renovated to deal with 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 fireplace early Wednesday that police consider was deliberately set — possibly by somebody seen running away from the constructing carrying what gave the impression to be a gas can and a bag.

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

The clinic, which also deliberate to offer different health care companies for girls, had been set to open in June as solely the second place in the state to supply abortions. Wyoming’s present lone location for girls to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

A person who called authorities before dawn noticed somebody working from the building with what seemed to be a gas can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Fb submit. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of identifying the suspect or producing a suspect description, police mentioned. No injuries were reported.

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

“Whether or not you’re in opposition to abortion or help 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 site, and signs opposing abortion had been visible Wednesday in a window of an house next door to the building.

Wyoming is one in all 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off law that might 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 will occur soon.

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