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 workplace in Wisconsin.

The headquarters of Wisconsin Household Action in Madison was attacked in the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown by way of a window, beginning a small fireplace, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. Nobody was hurt.

In a statement reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which mentioned it was unable to verify the group’s authenticity, Jane’s Revenge stated it launched the attack because of the organization’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that similar institutions throughout the US disband or face “more and more excessive tactics”.

“Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, however we're all over the US, and we will issue no additional warnings,” the assertion stated, citing the violence of anti-choice groups who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate docs with impunity” as justification.

The Madison assault got here days after the leaking of a supreme court docket draft ruling that might overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade decision 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) instructed the Guardian that its brokers have been conscious of the group’s claims of responsibility, but cited the ongoing investigation for being unable to give more particulars.

The Madison police division mentioned it was “aware of a gaggle claiming duty for the arson at Wisconsin Household Motion and are working with our federal partners to find out the veracity of that claim”.

It urged anyone with relevant information to make contact, saying: “We take all info 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 brokers introduced 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, said no suspects had to date been identified. Authorities have been anticipated to present an additional replace on Tuesday afternoon.

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

“We support the sanctity of human life from the second of conception by pure loss of life. This contains opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which starts at conception – by means of 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 conference on Monday, Evers known as 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 here.”

An attack on an anti-abortion workplace 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 facilities.

Arson, bombings, murders and acid assaults had been among greater than 300 acts of maximum violence recorded by the Rand Company between 1973 and 2003, and in one of the crucial 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 fixed threat of violence in opposition to personnel. Six states, MS mentioned, had only one abortion provider, principally small, unbiased operators who were considered most in danger.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming price,” the article said. “Independent providers are probably the most weak to anti-abortion assaults and violence directed at their workers.”