A fire was started at the office of an anti-abortion group in Madison, Wisconsin, on Sunday morning. Police are investigating the fire as arson, according to The Associated Press.
What happened? Along with the flames, the side of the building was spray-painted with graffiti, saying, “If abortions aren’t safe, you aren’t either.” The graffiti also included a coded anti-police slogan and an anarchy symbol, stated the Wisconsin State Journal.
- Use of a Molotov cocktail was also reported by The New York Times.
- At the time of the incident the office was empty, and no one was hurt, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- “If somebody had been in that office, I don’t think anybody would have been killed, but you would have been hurt just from the flying glass,” said Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action, the organization whose office was hit, according to the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal.
The bigger picture: The fire was targeted at the office of a nonprofit group that supports anti-abortion efforts, said Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes, according to a statement released by the police department.
- “The leak last week of a draft opinion suggesting that the U.S. Supreme Court was on course to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide sparked protests across the country, including in Madison,” The AP reported.
President Joe Biden condemns the violence: “President Biden strongly condemns this attack and political violence of any stripe. The President has made clear throughout his time in public life that Americans have the fundamental right to express themselves under the Constitution, whatever their point of view. But that expression must be peaceful and free of violence, vandalism, or attempts to intimidate,” said the White House in a statement, according to Fox News.