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

Federal agents and detectives from the Madison police division are investigating a declare 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 Motion in Madison was attacked within the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown by means of a window, starting a small hearth, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No one was harm.

In an announcement reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which said it was unable to confirm the group’s authenticity, Jane’s Revenge said it launched the attack because of the group’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that similar institutions throughout the US disband or face “more and more excessive ways”.

“Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, however we are everywhere in the US, and we are going to concern no additional warnings,” the statement mentioned, citing the violence of anti-choice groups who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate docs with impunity” as justification.

The Madison attack came days after the leaking of a supreme courtroom draft ruling that might overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade choice and finish almost half a century of constitutional abortion protections.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) informed the Guardian that its agents have been conscious of the group’s claims of accountability, but cited the ongoing investigation for being unable to offer more details.

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

It urged anybody with relevant info to make contact, saying: “We take all data and suggestions related to this case critically 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 known as an “abortion extremism case involving an arson and graffiti attack of a pro-life advocacy workplace in Madison”.

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, mentioned no suspects had up to now been recognized. Authorities have been anticipated to offer an additional update on Tuesday afternoon.

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

“We assist the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception by means of pure loss of life. This consists of opposing laws 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 assault 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 convention on Monday, Evers known as the attack “a horrible incident”.

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

Arson, bombings, murders and acid attacks had been amongst more than 300 acts of extreme violence recorded by the Rand Company between 1973 and 2003, and in one of the vital heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, was shot useless 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 in opposition to personnel. Six states, MS mentioned, had just one abortion provider, largely small, unbiased operators who were considered most in danger.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming price,” the article said. “Unbiased suppliers are essentially the most weak to anti-abortion attacks and violence directed at their staff.”