Police suspect arson in fireplace at Wyoming abortion clinic web site

Police consider an overnight fire in Wyoming that broken a building being renovated to house a new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press

May 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min learn

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a fireplace early Wednesday that police believe was deliberately set — presumably by someone seen running away from the building carrying what seemed to be a gas can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the inside of the building underneath renovation to accommodate the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which additionally deliberate to offer different well being care services for women, had been set to open in June as solely the second place in 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 referred to as authorities earlier than dawn noticed someone working from the constructing with what seemed to be a fuel can and a black bag, police said in a Facebook put up. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of identifying the suspect or producing a suspect description, police said. No accidents have been reported.

Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s director, mentioned clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and telephone messages. The constructing had video cameras that had been functioning, and police got access to them, she stated.

“Whether or not you’re against abortion or assist abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” stated Burkhart, a former associate 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 site, and indicators opposing abortion have been seen Wednesday in a window of an house next door to the building.

Wyoming is certainly one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off regulation that would instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade choice that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that will happen soon.

Police briefly closed off the road where the small building is located as officers investigated. A number of of the building's windows have been broken, and smoke damage was seen around one shattered window.