Wisconsin
Fire at anti-abortion office investigated as arson
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Vandals struck an anti-abortion group office, where a fire broke out and a Molotov cocktail was found, authorities said Sunday.
Madison police spokeswoman Stephanie Fryer told the Wisconsin State Journal that the fire reported shortly after 6 a.m. Sunday at the Wisconsin Family Action office in Madison was suspicious in nature. He said someone also spray-painted a message outside the building. Federal officials and the Madison Fire Department are helping with the investigation.
No one was injured, and officials were still working to determine how much damage the fire caused.
It wasn’t immediately clear who vandalized the building, but the message “If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either” was spray-painted on the building.
“It appears a specific non-profit that supports anti-abortion measures was targeted,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said in a statement.
The president of the lobbying group, Julaine Appling, said she considers the fire a “direct threat against us” given that it happened just a few days after a draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion was leaked suggesting the court may soon overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in this country. She said people could have been hurt if they had been working in the office at the time.
“This is the local manifestation of the anger and the lack of tolerance from the pro-abortion people toward those of us who are pro-life,” Appling said, who said investigators found the remnants of at least one Molotov cocktail.
Appling said her group won’t be intimidated by the vandalism.
“We will repair our offices, remain on the job, and build an even stronger grassroots effort,” Appling said. “We will not back down. We will not stop doing what we are doing. Too much is at stake.”
Wisconsin politicians from both parties, including Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, swiftly criticized the vandalism Sunday.
“We condemn violence and hatred in all forms, including the actions at Wisconsin Family Action in Madison last night,” Evers said in a tweet. “We reject violence against any person for disagreeing with another’s view. Violence is not the way forward. Hurting others is never the answer.”
Johnson said the actions shouldn’t be tolerated.
“This attack is abhorrent and should be condemned by all,” Johnson said.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Nelson also denounced the vandalism.
“I am committed to protecting women’s rights - but we must do it the right way,” Nelson said. “Violence and destruction are not the answer. I’m glad no one was hurt.”
Two Republican candidates for governor, former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and Kevin Nicholson, both weighed in.
Nicholson said the vandalism was “disgusting behavior from the left,” though he did not elaborate or provide further details.
Alabama
State outlaws gender-affirming medicines for trans kids
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — It’s now a crime in Alabama to administer or prescribe gender-affirming puberty blockers and hormones to transgender people under age 19, as a new law took effect Sunday without intervention from the courts.
Alabama is the first state to enact such a ban on these treatments for transgender youth. A similar measure in Arkansas to halt the treatments was blocked by a federal judge before it took effect. A federal judge has not yet ruled on a preliminary injunction request to block Alabama from enforcing the law while a court challenge goes forward.
“Families are scared. How can you not feel like the floor was pulled out from under you?” Dr. Morissa Ladinsky, a pediatrician who founded a Birmingham medical team that treats children with gender dysphoria, said Sunday. Ladinsky said she remains hopeful that a federal judge will grant an injunction request.
The Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act makes it a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, to prescribe or administer gender-affirming medication to young people under 19 to help affirm their new gender identity. It also requires school counselors, teachers and other school officials to tell parents if a minor discloses that they think they are transgender.
U.S. District Judge Liles Burke had cautioned attorneys on Friday that he might not have a decision on a request for a preliminary injunction by the Alabama law’s May 8 effective date. Burke said he and his staff would do “nothing else” but work on the issue.
Four families with transgender children and others filed a lawsuit that the U.S. Department of Justice joined challenging the law as discriminatory, an unconstitutional violation of equal protection and free speech rights and an intrusion into family medical decisions.
The plaintiffs asked Burke to issue an order blocking enforcement of the statute while the lawsuit goes forward. Twenty-three medical and mental health organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, have also urged the judge to enjoin the law.
Attorneys for Alabama argued the ban should be allowed to go forward.
New York
NXIVM guru wants new judge to decide evidence planting claim
NEW YORK (AP) — Attorneys for Keith Raniere, the former leader of the cult-like NXIVM group, want a new federal judge to consider a motion for new trial filed last week that argues federal authorities framed Raniere by planting child pornography on a computer hard drive.
Raniere’s lawyers take aim at U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in new court papers, alleging he showed a “lack of judicial temperament” and “deep-seated, unequivocal hostility” for Raniere throughout the proceedings that landed the disgraced self-improvement guru in federal prison for 120 years for a sex-trafficking conspiracy.
They cited a heated exchange last year in which Garaufis threatened to have one of Raniere’s attorneys arrested during a restitution hearing in which Raniere was ordered to pay $3.5 million to 21 victims, a sum that included the cost of surgically removing scars from branding rituals performed by a secret sorority.
“Only a new judge can fairly adjudicate any further issues in this case without these pre-existing biases and prejudices,” attorney Joseph Tully wrote in a motion Friday in Brooklyn federal court. “Anyone who had entered the courtroom and witnessed Judge Garaufis’ outrageous comments during trial, at the restitution hearing, or at sentencing, would have concluded that the judge was biased against Mr. Raniere and his counsel.”
Federal prosecutors have not yet responded to the motion to disqualify Garaufis. They have denied Raniere’s claims of government tampering with evidence.
