Pro-choice group claims arson attack on Wisconsin anti-abortion office | Wisconsin

Federal brokers and detectives from the Madison police division are investigating a declare by a pro-choice group that it was behind a weekend arson attack on an anti-abortion workplace in Wisconsin.

The headquarters of Wisconsin Family Action in Madison was attacked in the early hours of Sunday, with a molotov cocktail thrown by means of a window, beginning a small fire, and graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall. Nobody was hurt.

In a press release reported on Tuesday by the Lincoln Journal Star, which mentioned it was unable to confirm the group’s authenticity, Jane’s Revenge mentioned it launched the attack because of the organization’s anti-abortion stance, and demanded that similar institutions across the US disband or face “more and more excessive techniques”.

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

The Madison assault came days after the leaking of a supreme courtroom draft ruling that may overturn its 1973 Roe v Wade determination and finish almost half a century of constitutional abortion protections.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) advised the Guardian that its agents have been conscious of the group’s claims of duty, however cited the ongoing investigation for being unable to give more details.

The Madison police department said it was “conscious of a group claiming responsibility for the arson at Wisconsin Family Motion and are working with our federal companions to determine the veracity of that claim”.

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

At a press conference 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 office in Madison”.

The Madison police chief, Shon Barnes, stated no suspects had to this point been identified. Authorities have been expected to provide an additional update on Tuesday afternoon.

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

“We help the sanctity of human life from the second of conception by means of pure death. This consists of opposing legislation that promotes the destruction of human life – which starts at conception – via abortion and other means,” it says.

Jack Hoogendyk, the WFA board chairman, attacked the response to the assault 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 law enforcement,” he wrote.

At a press convention on Monday, Evers called the attack “a horrible incident”.

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

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

Arson, bombings, murders and acid attacks had been amongst more than 300 acts of maximum violence recorded by the Rand Corporation between 1973 and 2003, and in some of the heinous incidents, in 2009, Dr George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, was shot lifeless in a church in Wichita.

In March, MS journal reported that the number of brick-and-mortar abortion clinics nationwide had dropped precipitously, partly due to the fixed risk of violence in opposition to personnel. Six states, MS stated, had only one abortion provider, mostly small, impartial operators who were thought of most in danger.

“Abortion clinics have been closing at an alarming price,” the article mentioned. “Independent providers are essentially the most weak to anti-abortion assaults and violence directed at their workers.”