Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic web site

Police imagine an overnight fireplace in Wyoming that broken a constructing being renovated to deal with a new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press

Might 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 fire early Wednesday that police consider was intentionally set — probably by somebody seen working away from the building carrying what appeared to be a gas can and a bag.

The blaze damaged 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 planned to offer other well being care services for ladies, had been set to open in June as solely 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 known as authorities earlier than dawn saw somebody working from the constructing with what appeared to be a gas can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Facebook put up. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of identifying the suspect or generating a suspect description, police said. No accidents had been reported.

Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s director, said clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and phone messages. The constructing had video cameras that have been functioning, and police were given entry 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 on the future clinic website, and signs opposing abortion had been visible Wednesday in a window of an condo subsequent door to the constructing.

Wyoming is certainly one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off law that would 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 soon.

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