Professional-choice group claims arson assault on Wisconsin anti-abortion workplace | Wisconsin

Federal agents and detectives from the Madison police department are investigating a claim by a pro-choice group that it was behind a weekend arson assault on an anti-abortion workplace in Wisconsin.

The headquarters of Wisconsin Family Motion in Madison was attacked in the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown via a window, beginning a small fireplace, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. No person was hurt.

In an announcement reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which stated it was unable to confirm the group’s authenticity, Jane’s Revenge mentioned it launched the assault because of the group’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that related institutions across the US disband or face “more and more extreme techniques”.

“Wisconsin is the primary flashpoint, however we're all around the US, and we'll challenge no additional warnings,” the statement mentioned, citing the violence of anti-choice groups who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate medical doctors with impunity” as justification.

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

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) told the Guardian that its agents were aware of the group’s claims of accountability, however cited the continuing investigation for being unable to give more particulars.

The Madison police division said it was “aware of a gaggle claiming responsibility for the arson at Wisconsin Family Action and are working with our federal partners to find out the veracity of that claim”.

It urged anyone with relevant info to make contact, saying: “We take all info and tips related to this case significantly and are working to vet each one.”

At a press convention on Monday afternoon, the Madison PD and ATF agents introduced a joint investigation into what it called an “abortion extremism case involving an arson and graffiti attack of a pro-life advocacy office in Madison”.

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, said no suspects had so far been recognized. Authorities have been expected to provide an extra update on Tuesday afternoon.

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

“We assist the sanctity of human life from the second of conception via natural dying. This consists of opposing laws that promotes the destruction of human life – which starts at conception – by means of abortion and different 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 known as the assault “a horrible incident”.

Calling for a full investigation and arrests, he added: “Because the state of Wisconsin, we don’t accept that kind of violence here.”

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

Arson, bombings, murders and acid assaults were among greater than 300 acts of utmost violence recorded by the Rand Corporation between 1973 and 2003, and in one of the heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, was shot dead in a church in Wichita.

In March, MS magazine reported that the variety of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly because of the fixed threat of violence against personnel. Six states, MS mentioned, had just one abortion supplier, mostly small, independent operators who had been thought of most at risk.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming fee,” the article said. “Unbiased providers are essentially the most susceptible to anti-abortion attacks and violence directed at their employees.”