Professional-choice group claims arson attack on Wisconsin anti-abortion office | Wisconsin

Federal agents and detectives from the Madison police department 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 Motion in Madison was attacked within the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown by a window, beginning a small fire, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No one was damage.

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

“Wisconsin is the primary flashpoint, however we are everywhere in the US, and we will problem no further warnings,” the statement stated, citing the violence of anti-choice teams who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate medical doctors with impunity” as justification.

The Madison assault got here days after the leaking of a supreme courtroom draft ruling that may overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade choice and finish nearly 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 agents have been aware of the group’s claims of duty, but cited the continued investigation for being unable to provide extra particulars.

The Madison police division stated it was “aware of a bunch claiming duty 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 information and suggestions related to this case seriously and are working to vet each and every one.”

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

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, stated no suspects had to date been identified. Authorities were anticipated to provide an additional update on Tuesday afternoon.

In a values assertion on its website, Wisconsin Household Motion (WFA) describes itself as a Judeo-Christian group devoted to “strengthening, preserving, and promoting marriage, family, life and liberty.

“We assist the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception by means of pure demise. This includes opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which starts at conception – by means of abortion and different means,” it says.

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

“We need to see a a lot stronger message of condemnation of this exercise from our Governor [and] from local legislation enforcement,” he wrote.

At a press convention on Monday, Evers called the assault “a horrible incident”.

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

An attack on an anti-abortion office is a relative rarity in contrast with assaults on abortion clinics and suppliers. In 2019, the Guardian reported on an “alarming escalation” in picketing, vandalism and trespassing by anti-abortion activists at medical amenities.

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

In March, MS journal reported that the number of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly due to the fixed threat of violence towards personnel. Six states, MS said, had just one abortion supplier, largely small, impartial operators who have been thought of most at risk.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming price,” the article stated. “Impartial providers are the most susceptible to anti-abortion assaults and violence directed at their workers.”