Police suspect arson in hearth at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police believe an overnight fireplace in Wyoming that broken a building being renovated to deal with a new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press

Could 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min learn

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a fire early Wednesday that police consider was intentionally set — presumably by somebody seen running away from the building carrying what seemed to be a fuel can and a bag.

The blaze broken the inside of the constructing beneath renovation to accommodate the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest city in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which additionally planned to supply other well being care companies for girls, had been set to open in June as only the second place in the state to supply abortions. Wyoming’s current lone location for women to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

An individual who known as authorities earlier than daybreak saw somebody running from the constructing with what appeared to be a gas can and a black bag, police stated in a Facebook put up. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of figuring out the suspect or generating a suspect description, police said. No injuries were reported.

Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s director, mentioned clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and telephone messages. The constructing had video cameras that have been functioning, and police got entry to them, she mentioned.

“Whether you’re towards abortion or support abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” stated Burkhart, a former affiliate 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 had been visible Wednesday in a window of an condominium next door to the constructing.

Wyoming is certainly one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger law that would immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that can occur soon.

Police quickly closed off the road the place the small building is positioned as officers investigated. Several of the constructing's home windows had been broken, and smoke damage was seen round one shattered window.