Police suspect arson in hearth at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police consider an overnight fireplace in Wyoming that broken a constructing being renovated to house 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 subsequent month in conservative Wyoming was damaged in a fire early Wednesday that police consider was intentionally set — probably by someone seen working away from the constructing carrying what gave the impression to be a fuel can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the within of the building beneath 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 deliberate to provide different well being care services for girls, had been set to open in June as solely the second place in the state to offer abortions. Wyoming’s present 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 dawn saw somebody working from the constructing with what seemed to be a fuel can and a black bag, police said in a Facebook publish. Investigators had been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of identifying the suspect or generating a suspect description, police said. No accidents have been reported.

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

“Whether or not you’re towards abortion or help abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” said Burkhart, a former associate of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion supplier who was shot and killed in a Wichita, Kansas, church in 2009.

Protests have been held this spring by abortion opponents on the future clinic website, and signs opposing abortion have been seen Wednesday in a window of an apartment subsequent door to the constructing.

Wyoming is certainly one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger legislation that would 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 may happen soon.

Police quickly closed off the street the place the small building is located as officers investigated. A number of of the constructing's windows have been broken, and smoke damage was seen round one shattered window.