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

The headquarters of Wisconsin Family Motion in Madison was attacked in the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown by a window, starting a small fireplace, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. Nobody was damage.

In a statement reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which stated it was unable to confirm the group’s authenticity, Jane’s Revenge said it launched the attack due to the group’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that related establishments throughout the US disband or face “more and more extreme techniques”.

“Wisconsin is the primary flashpoint, but we are all around the US, and we will difficulty no additional warnings,” the assertion mentioned, citing the violence of anti-choice teams who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate doctors with impunity” as justification.

The Madison attack got here days after the leaking of a supreme court docket draft ruling that will overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade determination 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 brokers have been conscious of the group’s claims of accountability, but cited the continued investigation for being unable to give extra details.

The Madison police division stated it was “aware of a bunch claiming responsibility for the arson at Wisconsin Family Motion and are working with our federal companions to determine the veracity of that declare”.

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

At a press conference on Monday afternoon, the Madison PD and ATF agents introduced a joint investigation into what it known as an “abortion extremism case involving an arson and graffiti attack of a pro-life advocacy workplace in Madison”.

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, said no suspects had thus far been recognized. Authorities were anticipated to offer 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 support the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception by natural demise. This includes opposing laws 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 assault in a tweet posted on Tuesday morning, singling out Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, and Madison PD detectives.

“We have to see a a lot stronger message of condemnation of this activity from our Governor [and] from local law enforcement,” he wrote.

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

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

An assault on an anti-abortion workplace is a relative rarity compared with assaults 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 amenities.

Arson, bombings, murders and acid assaults have been among greater than 300 acts of maximum violence recorded by the Rand Corporation between 1973 and 2003, and in one of the most 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 number of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly because of the constant threat of violence towards personnel. Six states, MS stated, had just one abortion supplier, principally small, independent operators who have been thought of most in danger.

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