CNN
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The office of a conservative political organization that lobbies against abortion rights was vandalized and damaged by fire on Sunday morning in Madison, Wisconsin, in what police are investigating as arson.
The fire and vandalism happened at the office of Wisconsin Family Action, CNN affiliate WISC reported. WFA is a political action committee that lobbies against abortion rights and same-sex marriage, according to its website,
Emergency dispatchers received a call from a passerby who saw fire coming from an office building on Sunday morning, Madison Police communications supervisor Keith Johnson told CNN. Madison Fire Department firefighters were called to the building at about 6 am and were quickly able to put out the blaze, officials said. No injuries were reported.
Fire investigators believe the fire was intentionally set and are investigating the incident as arson, said the fire department,
A molotov cocktail, which did not ignite, was thrown inside the building, Madison police said in an incident report. It appears a separate fire was started, police said, and graffiti was also found at the scene.
An image from WISC shows the graffiti written on the wall of the office: “If abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t either.”
WFA President Julaine Appling told WISC that someone threw molotov cocktails into the office and burned books.
The alleged aarson comes days after Politico published a draft of a Supreme Court majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito that would strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that the constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion.
The opinion would be the most consequential abortion decision in decades and transform the landscape of women’s reproductive health in America. The final opinion in the case – Dobbs v. Jackson, which concerns a challenge to Mississippi’s 15-week ban on abortion – is not expected to be published until late June.
In a statement, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said WFA appeared to have been targeted because of its beliefs.
“Our department has and continues to support people being able to speak freely and openly about their beliefs. But we feel that any acts of violence, including the destruction of property, do not aid in any cause,” said Barnes. “We have made our federal partners aware of this incident and are working with them and the Madison Fire Department as we investigate this arson.”
Law enforcement officials in Washington, DC, began bracing this week for potential security risks posed by reactions to the leaked draft.
Late Wednesday night, security teams began installing an 8-foot-tall, non-scalable fence around parts of the Supreme Court building, and Thursday night, crews set up concrete barriers blocking the street in front of the court.
Wisconsin is one of a number of states that had an abortion restriction in place prior to the Roe ruling that has never been removed, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, said earlier this week the state’s Department of Justice would not enforce the law if the Supreme Court overturned Roe, according to CNN affiliate WKOW,
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