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

Federal brokers and detectives from the Madison police division are investigating a declare by a pro-choice group that it was behind a weekend arson assault on an anti-abortion workplace in Wisconsin.

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

In a statement reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which stated it was unable to confirm the group’s authenticity, Jane’s Revenge mentioned it launched the attack due to the group’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that comparable institutions across the US disband or face “more and more extreme techniques”.

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

The Madison attack came days after the leaking of a supreme court docket draft ruling that would overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade resolution and end almost half a century of constitutional abortion protections.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) told the Guardian that its agents had been aware of the group’s claims of accountability, but cited the continuing investigation for being unable to present extra details.

The Madison police division mentioned it was “aware of a bunch claiming responsibility for the arson at Wisconsin Household Action and are working with our federal partners to determine the veracity of that claim”.

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

At a press conference on Monday afternoon, the Madison PD and ATF agents announced 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, said no suspects had up to now been identified. Authorities were expected to give an extra replace on Tuesday afternoon.

In a values statement on its website, Wisconsin Household Action (WFA) describes itself as a Judeo-Christian group devoted to “strengthening, preserving, and promoting marriage, household, life and liberty.

“We assist the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception by way of natural demise. This consists of opposing laws that promotes the destruction of human life – which begins at conception – through 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 regulation enforcement,” he wrote.

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

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

An assault 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 amongst greater than 300 acts of extreme violence recorded by the Rand Company between 1973 and 2003, and in some of the heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, was shot dead in a church in Wichita.

In March, MS magazine reported that the variety of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly due to the fixed risk of violence in opposition to personnel. Six states, MS said, had just one abortion provider, mostly small, impartial operators who had been considered most at risk.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming charge,” the article said. “Impartial suppliers are probably the most vulnerable to anti-abortion attacks and violence directed at their workers.”