Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police believe an overnight fire in Wyoming that damaged a building being renovated to accommodate a brand new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press

May 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min read

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a hearth early Wednesday that police consider was intentionally set — presumably by somebody seen running away from the building carrying what seemed to be a gasoline can and a bag.

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

The clinic, which also deliberate to supply different well being care services for ladies, had been set to open in June as solely the second place within the state to offer abortions. Wyoming’s current lone location for women to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

An individual who known as authorities earlier than dawn saw somebody operating from the constructing with what seemed to be a gas can and a black bag, police said in a Fb publish. Investigators had been reviewing video footage from the area in hopes of figuring out the suspect or generating a suspect description, police stated. No accidents had been reported.

Julie Burkhart, the clinic’s director, mentioned clinic organizers had been receiving harassing emails and telephone messages. The building had video cameras that were functioning, and police got access to them, she stated.

“Whether you’re against abortion or help abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” said 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 site, and indicators opposing abortion have been seen Wednesday in a window of an condominium next door to the constructing.

Wyoming is considered one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off legislation that might immediately outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that can happen soon.

Police temporarily closed off the street the place the small constructing is positioned as officers investigated. A number of of the constructing's windows were broken, and smoke injury was seen around one shattered window.