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

Federal agents 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 Family Action in Madison was attacked within the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown by a window, starting a small hearth, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No one was harm.

In an announcement reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which stated it was unable to verify the group’s authenticity, Jane’s Revenge stated it launched the attack due to the organization’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that comparable establishments across the US disband or face “more and more excessive tactics”.

“Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, but we're all around the US, and we are going to challenge no additional warnings,” the assertion stated, citing the violence of anti-choice groups who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate medical doctors with impunity” as justification.

The Madison assault came days after the leaking of a supreme court draft ruling that may overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade choice and end nearly half a century of constitutional abortion protections.

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

The Madison police department stated it was “aware of a gaggle claiming duty for the arson at Wisconsin Household Motion and are working with our federal partners to determine the veracity of that claim”.

It urged anybody with relevant info to make contact, saying: “We take all data and ideas associated to this case significantly and are working to vet every one.”

At a press convention on Monday afternoon, the Madison PD and ATF agents announced a joint investigation into what it known 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, said no suspects had so far been recognized. Authorities have been anticipated to present a further update on Tuesday afternoon.

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

“We support the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception through pure demise. This consists of opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which begins at conception – via 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 activity from our Governor [and] from native regulation 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 assault on an anti-abortion office is a relative rarity in contrast with attacks 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 services.

Arson, bombings, murders and acid attacks have been among greater than 300 acts of maximum violence recorded by the Rand Corporation between 1973 and 2003, and in one of the heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion supplier, was shot dead in a church in Wichita.

In March, MS magazine reported that the number of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly because of the constant menace of violence against personnel. Six states, MS stated, had just one abortion supplier, mostly small, unbiased operators who were thought-about most at risk.

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