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

Federal agents 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 workplace in Wisconsin.

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

In a statement reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which mentioned 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 across the US disband or face “more and more excessive ways”.

“Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, however we are all over the US, and we are going to issue no additional warnings,” the statement stated, citing the violence of anti-choice teams who “bomb [abortion] clinics and assassinate doctors with impunity” as justification.

The Madison assault got here days after the leaking of a supreme court docket draft ruling that may overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade resolution 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) told the Guardian that its agents have been aware of the group’s claims of responsibility, but cited the ongoing investigation for being unable to give more particulars.

The Madison police division stated it was “aware of a bunch claiming accountability for the arson at Wisconsin Family Action and are working with our federal companions to find out the veracity of that declare”.

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

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

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, said no suspects had up to now been identified. Authorities were expected to give a further update on Tuesday afternoon.

In a values statement on its website, Wisconsin Household Action (WFA) describes itself as a Judeo-Christian group dedicated to “strengthening, preserving, and promoting marriage, household, life and liberty.

“We assist the sanctity of human life from the second of conception via pure loss of life. This consists of opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which begins at conception – through 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 have to see a a lot stronger message of condemnation of this activity from our Governor [and] from local legislation 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 settle for that kind of violence right here.”

An assault on an anti-abortion workplace is a relative rarity in contrast 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 services.

Arson, bombings, murders and acid attacks had been amongst greater than 300 acts of extreme 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 supplier, 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 due to the fixed menace of violence in opposition to personnel. Six states, MS said, had only one abortion provider, principally small, independent operators who have been considered most in danger.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming rate,” the article stated. “Independent suppliers are essentially the most vulnerable to anti-abortion attacks and violence directed at their workers.”