Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police imagine an in a single day fire in Wyoming that damaged a constructing being renovated to deal with a new abortion clinic was deliberately set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

Could 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min learn

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open subsequent month in conservative Wyoming was damaged in a fire early Wednesday that police imagine was deliberately set — possibly 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 within of the constructing under renovation to house the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state the place opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which also deliberate to offer different health care companies for women, had been set to open in June as solely the second place in 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 daybreak saw someone working from the building with what gave the impression to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police said in a Facebook publish. Investigators were reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of figuring out the suspect or producing 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 phone messages. The constructing had video cameras that were functioning, and police were given entry to them, she said.

“Whether or not you’re in opposition to abortion or support abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” said Burkhart, a former associate of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion supplier 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 had been visible Wednesday in a window of an condo subsequent door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one in every of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger law that might instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that may happen soon.

Police briefly closed off the road the place the small constructing is situated as officers investigated. A number of of the building's home windows have been damaged, and smoke harm was seen around one shattered window.