Pro-choice group claims arson attack on Wisconsin anti-abortion workplace | Wisconsin

Federal agents and detectives from the Madison police department are investigating a declare by a pro-choice group that it was behind a weekend arson assault on an anti-abortion workplace 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, beginning a small hearth, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No person was harm.

In an announcement reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which mentioned it was unable to verify the group’s authenticity, Jane’s Revenge said it launched the assault because of the group’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that related establishments across the US disband or face “increasingly excessive ways”.

“Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, however we're everywhere in the US, and we'll situation no further warnings,” the statement said, citing the violence of anti-choice groups who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate doctors with impunity” as justification.

The Madison assault got here days after the leaking of a supreme court docket draft ruling that may overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade resolution and finish almost half a century of constitutional abortion protections.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) told the Guardian that its brokers were aware of the group’s claims of accountability, however cited the ongoing investigation for being unable to provide more particulars.

The Madison police division stated it was “conscious of a gaggle claiming duty for the arson at Wisconsin Household Motion and are working with our federal companions to determine the veracity of that claim”.

It urged anyone with relevant data to make contact, saying: “We take all info and tips associated to this case critically and are working to vet each and every one.”

At a press convention 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 assault of a pro-life advocacy workplace in Madison”.

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, stated no suspects had so far been recognized. Authorities had been anticipated to give an additional update 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 assist the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception via natural death. This consists of opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which starts at conception – by 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 exercise from our Governor [and] from native legislation enforcement,” he wrote.

At a press convention on Monday, Evers called the attack “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 right here.”

An assault on an anti-abortion workplace is a relative rarity in contrast 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 assaults were among more than 300 acts of maximum violence recorded by the Rand Company between 1973 and 2003, and in one of the vital heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, was shot useless in a church in Wichita.

In March, MS journal reported that the variety of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly because of the fixed menace of violence against personnel. Six states, MS mentioned, had only one abortion provider, largely small, unbiased operators who had been considered most at risk.

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