Police suspect arson in fireplace at Wyoming abortion clinic web site

Police imagine an in a single day hearth in Wyoming that damaged a building being renovated to accommodate a new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press

May 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min learn

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open subsequent month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a hearth early Wednesday that police consider was deliberately set — possibly by someone seen running away from the building carrying what seemed to be a gasoline can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the within of the building under renovation to house the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

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

An individual who referred to as authorities earlier than dawn noticed somebody working from the constructing with what seemed to be a gas can and a black bag, police said in a Fb post. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of identifying the suspect or producing a suspect description, police mentioned. No accidents 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 were functioning, and police were given entry to them, she said.

“Whether or not you’re towards abortion or help abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” stated 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 site, and indicators opposing abortion had been visible Wednesday in a window of an house subsequent door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one among 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger legislation 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 happen soon.

Police quickly closed off the road the place the small building is located as officers investigated. Several of the building's windows have been damaged, and smoke damage was visible around one shattered window.