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 assault on an anti-abortion office in Wisconsin.

The headquarters of Wisconsin Household Action in Madison was attacked in the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown by means of a window, starting a small hearth, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No one was hurt.

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

“Wisconsin is the primary flashpoint, but we're all around the US, and we are going to situation no further warnings,” the statement mentioned, citing the violence of anti-choice groups who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate docs with impunity” as justification.

The Madison attack got here days after the leaking of a supreme court draft ruling that might overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade determination and finish nearly half a century of constitutional abortion protections.

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

The Madison police department mentioned it was “aware of a bunch claiming accountability for the arson at Wisconsin Family Action and are working with our federal partners to determine the veracity of that claim”.

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

At a press conference on Monday afternoon, the Madison PD and ATF agents announced a joint investigation into what it referred to 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, mentioned no suspects had so far been identified. Authorities were anticipated to present a further replace on Tuesday afternoon.

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

“We help the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception through natural death. This includes opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which begins at conception – via abortion and other means,” it says.

Jack Hoogendyk, the WFA board chairman, attacked the response to the attack 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 exercise from our Governor [and] from local 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 settle for that kind of violence right here.”

An attack on an anti-abortion workplace is a relative rarity in contrast with attacks on abortion clinics and suppliers. In 2019, the Guardian reported on an “alarming escalation” in picketing, vandalism and trespassing by anti-abortion activists at medical services.

Arson, bombings, murders and acid assaults have been amongst more than 300 acts of extreme 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 supplier, was shot useless in a church in Wichita.

In March, MS magazine reported that the number of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly due to the fixed threat of violence in opposition to personnel. Six states, MS said, had just one abortion supplier, principally small, independent operators who were considered most in danger.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming fee,” the article mentioned. “Independent suppliers are probably the most weak to anti-abortion attacks and violence directed at their staff.”