Office of anti-abortion organization in Wisconsin targeted in arson attack, police say

“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,” Barnes said. “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.”

WFA president responds to the vandalism

WFA President Juliane Appling told CNN she was at a Mother’s Day brunch at her church around 7:45 a.m. Sunday when she got a call from her office building’s management, who said the WFA office had been broken into.

Appling said she was told a couple of what she describes as Molotov cocktails had been thrown through several windows in the space, which started a small fire.

Graffiti was found spray-painted on the outside of the building, where WFA leases space, she said.

“The irony of this happening on Mother’s Day is very poignant,” Appling said.

WFA received no indication of any specific threat leading up to Sunday morning’s incident, she said.

“I pray that this doesn’t happen to anyone else, this needs to stop right now,” Appling said.

Draft of Supreme Court opinion leaked last week

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.

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.