Police suspect arson in fireplace at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police consider an in a single day hearth in Wyoming that broken a building being renovated to accommodate a 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 next month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a fireplace early Wednesday that police imagine was intentionally set — possibly by someone seen operating away from the building carrying what appeared to be a gasoline can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the within of the building under renovation to deal with the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which also planned to provide different well being care providers for women, had been set to open in June as only the second place within the state to supply 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 daybreak noticed someone working from the constructing with what seemed to be a gas can and a black bag, police said in a Fb put up. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of figuring out the suspect or generating a suspect description, police stated. No injuries were reported.

Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s director, stated clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and phone messages. The building had video cameras that had been functioning, and police were given entry to them, she said.

“Whether you’re in opposition to 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 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 web site, and signs opposing abortion had been visible Wednesday in a window of an apartment subsequent door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one in every of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger law that would instantly 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 occur quickly.

Police temporarily closed off the road the place the small constructing is located as officers investigated. Several of the building's home windows have been damaged, and smoke injury was seen around one shattered window.