Police suspect arson in fireplace at Wyoming abortion clinic web site

Police imagine an overnight fire in Wyoming that broken a building being renovated to accommodate a brand new abortion clinic was deliberately set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press

Might 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 fire early Wednesday that police consider was deliberately set — presumably by somebody seen operating away from the constructing carrying what appeared to be a fuel can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the inside of the constructing beneath renovation to house the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest city in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which also planned to provide different health care companies for girls, had been set to open in June as solely the second place within 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.

A person who referred to as authorities earlier than daybreak saw someone operating from the constructing with what gave the impression to be a fuel can and a black bag, police mentioned in a Fb publish. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of figuring out the suspect or producing a suspect description, police stated. No injuries were reported.

Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s director, stated clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and phone messages. The building had video cameras that were functioning, and police were given entry to them, she said.

“Whether or not you’re against 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 at the future clinic website, and indicators opposing abortion were visible Wednesday in a window of an apartment next door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one in all 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger regulation that may instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade determination that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that can happen quickly.

Police briefly closed off the street where the small building is situated as officers investigated. A number of of the constructing's windows have been broken, and smoke harm was visible round one shattered window.