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 within the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown by means of a window, starting a small fire, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. Nobody was hurt.

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

“Wisconsin is the primary flashpoint, but we are everywhere in the US, and we'll challenge no further warnings,” the assertion said, citing the violence of anti-choice teams 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 would overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade resolution and end nearly half a century of constitutional abortion protections.

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

The Madison police division mentioned it was “conscious of a group claiming responsibility for the arson at Wisconsin Family Action and are working with our federal partners to find out the veracity of that claim”.

It urged anybody with related information to make contact, saying: “We take all information and suggestions related to this case severely and are working to vet each one.”

At a press convention on Monday afternoon, the Madison PD and ATF agents 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, stated no suspects had to this point been identified. Authorities had been expected to provide an additional replace on Tuesday afternoon.

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

“We help the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception by pure loss of life. This includes opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which begins 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 need to see a a lot stronger message of condemnation of this activity from our Governor [and] from native regulation enforcement,” he wrote.

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

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

An assault on an anti-abortion office is a relative rarity compared with attacks 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 attacks were amongst more than 300 acts of maximum violence recorded by the Rand Corporation between 1973 and 2003, and in one of the crucial heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion supplier, was shot lifeless 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 risk of violence in opposition to personnel. Six states, MS said, had only one abortion supplier, principally small, impartial operators who were thought-about most at risk.

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