Police suspect arson in fireplace at Wyoming abortion clinic site

Police consider an in a single day fireplace in Wyoming that broken a constructing being renovated to deal with a new abortion clinic was deliberately set

By

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press

Might 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min learn

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a fireplace early Wednesday that police imagine was deliberately set — possibly by someone seen running away from the building carrying what appeared to be a gasoline can and a bag.

The blaze damaged the inside of the building under renovation to deal with the clinic in Casper, the second-biggest city in a state where opposition to abortion is widespread.

The clinic, which additionally planned to offer different well being care providers for ladies, had been set to open in June as solely the second place within the state to supply abortions. Wyoming’s current lone location for ladies to get abortions is at a hospital in Jackson, 281 miles (452 kilometers) away.

An individual who known as authorities before daybreak noticed someone operating from the constructing with what gave the impression to be a gas can and a black bag, police said in a Fb submit. Investigators had been reviewing video footage from the world in hopes of identifying the suspect or generating a suspect description, police stated. No accidents had been reported.

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

“Whether you’re in opposition to abortion or help 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 have been seen Wednesday in a window of an condominium next door to the building.

Wyoming is considered one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called trigger legislation that will instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Courtroom. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that can occur quickly.

Police temporarily closed off the road the place the small building is located as officers investigated. A number of of the building's windows had been damaged, and smoke harm was seen round one shattered window.