Pro-choice group claims arson assault on Wisconsin anti-abortion workplace | Wisconsin

Federal brokers and detectives from the Madison police division are investigating a declare by a pro-choice group that it was behind a weekend arson attack on an anti-abortion workplace in Wisconsin.

The headquarters of Wisconsin Household Action in Madison was attacked within the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown by means of a window, beginning a small fireplace, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No one was hurt.

In an announcement reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which mentioned it was unable to confirm the group’s authenticity, Jane’s Revenge mentioned it launched the assault because of the organization’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that related establishments across the US disband or face “more and more extreme tactics”.

“Wisconsin is the primary flashpoint, but we're all around the US, and we'll difficulty no further warnings,” the assertion said, citing the violence of anti-choice teams who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate doctors with impunity” as justification.

The Madison assault got here days after the leaking of a supreme court docket draft ruling that would overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade determination and end virtually half a century of constitutional abortion protections.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) informed the Guardian that its brokers have been aware of the group’s claims of duty, however cited the continued investigation for being unable to provide more particulars.

The Madison police division mentioned it was “conscious of a group claiming responsibility for the arson at Wisconsin Household Motion and are working with our federal partners to find out the veracity of that declare”.

It urged anyone with related info to make contact, saying: “We take all info and ideas related to this case significantly and are working to vet each one.”

At a press convention on Monday afternoon, the Madison PD and ATF agents introduced a joint investigation into what it referred to as an “abortion extremism case involving an arson and graffiti assault of a pro-life advocacy office in Madison”.

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, said no suspects had so far been recognized. Authorities had been expected to offer a further update on Tuesday afternoon.

In a values statement on its web site, Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) describes itself as a Judeo-Christian group dedicated to “strengthening, preserving, and selling marriage, family, life and liberty.

“We help the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception via pure loss of life. This consists of opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which starts at conception – via abortion and other means,” it says.

Jack Hoogendyk, the WFA board chairman, attacked the response to the assault in a tweet posted on Tuesday morning, singling out Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, and Madison PD detectives.

“We have to see a much stronger message of condemnation of this activity from our Governor [and] from native legislation enforcement,” he wrote.

At a press conference on Monday, Evers known as the attack “a horrible incident”.

Calling for a full investigation and arrests, he added: “Because the state of Wisconsin, we don’t settle for that type of violence right here.”

An attack on an anti-abortion workplace is a relative rarity compared with attacks on abortion clinics and providers. In 2019, the Guardian reported on an “alarming escalation” in picketing, vandalism and trespassing by anti-abortion activists at medical services.

Arson, bombings, murders and acid assaults had been amongst more than 300 acts of extreme violence recorded by the Rand Corporation between 1973 and 2003, and in probably the most heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion supplier, was shot lifeless in a church in Wichita.

In March, MS magazine reported that the variety of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly due to the constant risk of violence towards personnel. Six states, MS stated, had just one abortion provider, largely small, independent operators who had been considered most in danger.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming price,” the article stated. “Unbiased suppliers are essentially the most vulnerable to anti-abortion assaults and violence directed at their employees.”