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

Federal agents and detectives from the Madison police department are investigating a claim by a pro-choice group that it was behind a weekend arson attack on an anti-abortion office in Wisconsin.

The headquarters of Wisconsin Family Action in Madison was attacked in the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown by means of a window, beginning a small fire, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No person was hurt.

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 stated it launched the attack due to the group’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that related institutions throughout the US disband or face “increasingly extreme tactics”.

“Wisconsin is the primary flashpoint, but we're all over the US, and we'll concern no additional warnings,” the assertion stated, citing the violence of anti-choice teams who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate docs with impunity” as justification.

The Madison attack got here days after the leaking of a supreme court draft ruling that may overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade choice and finish almost 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 accountability, however cited the continuing investigation for being unable to offer extra particulars.

The Madison police department stated it was “aware of a group claiming responsibility for the arson at Wisconsin Household Motion and are working with our federal companions to find out the veracity of that claim”.

It urged anyone with related information to make contact, saying: “We take all info and tips associated to this case severely and are working to vet every one.”

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

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, mentioned no suspects had up to now been identified. Authorities have been expected to present an extra update on Tuesday afternoon.

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

“We support the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception through natural loss of life. This contains opposing laws 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 have to see a a lot stronger message of condemnation of this exercise from our Governor [and] from native law enforcement,” he wrote.

At a press conference on Monday, Evers called the attack “a horrible incident”.

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

An attack on an anti-abortion workplace 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 services.

Arson, bombings, murders and acid assaults had been among greater than 300 acts of extreme violence recorded by the Rand Company between 1973 and 2003, and in probably the most heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion supplier, was shot useless in a church in Wichita.

In March, MS journal reported that the variety of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly due to the constant threat of violence towards personnel. Six states, MS mentioned, had only one abortion provider, mostly small, unbiased operators who have been considered most in danger.

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