Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police consider an in a single day hearth in Wyoming that damaged a building being renovated to deal with a new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

Could 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min read

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open subsequent month in conservative Wyoming was damaged in a fire early Wednesday that police believe was deliberately set — probably by someone seen running away from the constructing carrying what gave the impression to be a gas can and a bag.

The blaze broken the inside of the building underneath renovation to house the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest city in a state the place opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which additionally planned to provide different well being care providers for girls, had been set to open in June as only the second place in the state to offer abortions. Wyoming’s current lone location for ladies to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

A person who called authorities before dawn noticed someone working from the building with what appeared to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police stated in a Facebook submit. Investigators have been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of identifying the suspect or generating a suspect description, police said. No injuries have been reported.

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

“Whether or not you’re in opposition to abortion or assist abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” mentioned 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 were visible Wednesday in a window of an apartment next door to the building.

Wyoming is considered one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off regulation that would instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that will occur quickly.

Police quickly closed off the street the place the small building is situated as officers investigated. A number of of the constructing's home windows had been broken, and smoke injury was seen around one shattered window.