Police suspect arson in hearth at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police consider an overnight fireplace in Wyoming that broken a constructing 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 subsequent month in conservative Wyoming was damaged in a hearth early Wednesday that police consider was intentionally set — presumably by someone seen running away from the building carrying what gave the impression to be a gas can and a bag.

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

The clinic, which also deliberate to provide different health care providers for girls, had been set to open in June as solely the second place in the state to supply abortions. Wyoming’s present lone location for girls to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

An individual who known as authorities before dawn saw someone running from the building with what seemed to be a gas can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Facebook put up. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of identifying the suspect or generating a suspect description, police stated. No injuries have been 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 got entry to them, she mentioned.

“Whether you’re towards 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 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 site, and indicators opposing abortion had been seen Wednesday in a window of an house subsequent door to the constructing.

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

Police temporarily closed off the street where the small constructing is positioned as officers investigated. A number of of the constructing's home windows have been damaged, and smoke injury was visible round one shattered window.