Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police imagine an in a single day hearth in Wyoming that broken a constructing being renovated to accommodate a brand new abortion clinic was deliberately set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

Might 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min read

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was damaged in a hearth early Wednesday that police consider was deliberately set — presumably by somebody seen running away from the building carrying what gave the impression to be a gasoline can and a bag.

The blaze broken the within of the constructing underneath renovation to accommodate 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 other health care companies 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 girls to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

An individual who known as authorities before daybreak noticed somebody running from the building with what appeared to be a gas can and a black bag, police said in a Fb put up. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of identifying the suspect or producing a suspect description, police stated. No accidents had 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 have been functioning, and police got entry to them, she mentioned.

“Whether you’re against abortion or help abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” mentioned 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 on the future clinic web site, and signs opposing abortion have been visible Wednesday in a window of an condo subsequent door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one in every of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger law that may instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade determination that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that can occur soon.

Police briefly closed off the road the place the small constructing is located as officers investigated. Several of the building's windows were broken, and smoke injury was seen around one shattered window.