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

Federal brokers and detectives from the Madison police division 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 a window, beginning a small fireplace, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No person was hurt.

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

“Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, however we are all around the US, and we are going to issue no further warnings,” the statement stated, citing the violence of anti-choice teams who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate doctors with impunity” as justification.

The Madison assault came days after the leaking of a supreme court draft ruling that might overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade determination and end virtually 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 brokers have been conscious of the group’s claims of accountability, however cited the continuing investigation for being unable to present more details.

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

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

At a press convention on Monday afternoon, the Madison PD and ATF brokers 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, mentioned no suspects had to date been recognized. Authorities have been anticipated to provide an extra update on Tuesday afternoon.

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

“We assist the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception through natural dying. This consists of opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which starts 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 much stronger message of condemnation of this activity from our Governor [and] from local legislation 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 right here.”

An assault on an anti-abortion office is a relative rarity compared with assaults on abortion clinics and providers. 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 more than 300 acts of extreme violence recorded by the Rand Corporation between 1973 and 2003, and in one of the most 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 number of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly because of the constant menace of violence towards personnel. Six states, MS stated, had just one abortion supplier, largely small, unbiased operators who had been thought-about most at risk.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming charge,” the article mentioned. “Unbiased suppliers are the most weak to anti-abortion assaults and violence directed at their employees.”