Police suspect arson in fire at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police believe an in a single day fireplace in Wyoming that damaged a building being renovated to deal with a new abortion clinic was deliberately set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

May 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 fireplace early Wednesday that police consider was intentionally set — possibly by someone seen running away from the constructing carrying what gave the impression to be a fuel can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the inside of the building below renovation to accommodate the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest metropolis in a state the place opposition to abortion is widespread.

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

A person who referred to as authorities earlier than daybreak noticed somebody operating from the building with what seemed to be a fuel can and a black bag, police stated 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 were reported.

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

“Whether you’re in opposition to abortion or support abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” mentioned Burkhart, a former affiliate 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 on the future clinic web site, and indicators opposing abortion were visible Wednesday in a window of an condo next door to the constructing.

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

Police temporarily closed off the street the place the small building is positioned as officers investigated. Several of the constructing's windows were broken, and smoke injury was visible around one shattered window.