Professional-choice group claims arson attack 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 assault on an anti-abortion workplace in Wisconsin.

The headquarters of Wisconsin Family Action in Madison was attacked in the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown through a window, starting a small fire, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No person was hurt.

In a press release 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 assault because of the organization’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that comparable institutions across the US disband or face “more and more extreme techniques”.

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

The Madison attack got here days after the leaking of a supreme court docket draft ruling that may overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade resolution 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 agents were aware of the group’s claims of responsibility, but cited the continued investigation for being unable to provide more particulars.

The Madison police department stated it was “conscious of a group claiming responsibility for the arson at Wisconsin Household Action and are working with our federal partners to determine the veracity of that declare”.

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

At a press convention on Monday afternoon, the Madison PD and ATF agents introduced a joint investigation into what it called 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 up to now been identified. Authorities had been expected to provide an extra replace on Tuesday afternoon.

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

“We assist the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception via pure demise. This contains opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which starts at conception – via abortion and other 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 need to see a much stronger message of condemnation of this exercise from our Governor [and] from native regulation enforcement,” he wrote.

At a press convention on Monday, Evers known as the assault “a horrible incident”.

Calling for a full investigation and arrests, he added: “Because the state of Wisconsin, we don’t accept that sort of violence right here.”

An attack on an anti-abortion office is a relative rarity in contrast with attacks 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 amenities.

Arson, bombings, murders and acid attacks were amongst greater than 300 acts of maximum violence recorded by the Rand Corporation between 1973 and 2003, and in one of the vital heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion supplier, was shot dead in a church in Wichita.

In March, MS journal reported that the variety of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly because of the constant risk of violence against personnel. Six states, MS said, had just one abortion provider, principally small, independent operators who were thought-about most in danger.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming rate,” the article stated. “Impartial providers are the most vulnerable to anti-abortion attacks and violence directed at their workers.”