Police suspect arson in fireplace at Wyoming abortion clinic website

Police believe an overnight fire in Wyoming that broken a building being renovated to accommodate a new abortion clinic was intentionally set

By

MEAD GRUVER Related Press

May 25, 2022, 3:57 PM ET

• 2 min read

CASPER, Wyo. -- An abortion clinic set to open next month in conservative Wyoming was broken in a fire early Wednesday that police believe was deliberately set — probably by somebody seen running away from the constructing carrying what seemed to be a gas can and a bag.

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

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

An individual who referred to as authorities earlier than daybreak saw somebody operating from the building with what appeared to be a gasoline can and a black bag, police said in a Facebook submit. Investigators had been reviewing video footage from the realm in hopes of identifying the suspect or producing a suspect description, police said. No accidents were 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 access to them, she mentioned.

“Whether you’re against abortion or support abortion rights, you’re not going to make abortion go away,” said Burkhart, a former affiliate of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider 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 web site, and indicators opposing abortion were visible Wednesday in a window of an apartment next door to the constructing.

Wyoming is one of 13 U.S. states with a so-called set off regulation that might instantly outlaw abortion if the Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized it nationwide is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court docket. A leaked draft of a ruling suggests that may occur soon.

Police temporarily closed off the road the place the small constructing is situated as officers investigated. Several of the building's windows have been damaged, and smoke injury was seen round one shattered window.