Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police believe an overnight fireplace in Wyoming that broken a constructing being renovated to house a brand new abortion clinic was deliberately set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press

Could 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min read

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open subsequent month in conservative Wyoming was damaged in a hearth early Wednesday that police imagine was deliberately set — probably by somebody seen operating away from the building carrying what seemed to be a gasoline can and a bag.

The blaze broken the inside of the building beneath renovation to deal with the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest city in a state the place opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which additionally planned to provide other well being care companies for women, had been set to open in June as only the second place within 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.

A person who called authorities earlier than daybreak noticed someone operating from the building with what gave the impression to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police said in a Facebook publish. Investigators had been reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of identifying the suspect or generating a suspect description, police stated. No accidents were 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 got entry to them, she mentioned.

“Whether 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 website, and signs opposing abortion have been seen Wednesday in a window of an apartment subsequent door to the building.

Wyoming is one in every of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off law that will immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade determination that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that will happen quickly.

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