MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A group has reportedly claimed credit for the weekend attack on the office of an anti-abortion organization in Madison. In a series of tweets, Bellingcat’s Robert Evans reported receiving a statement from a group called Jane’s Revenge, in which the organization took credit for the suspected arson.
Jane’s Revenge went on to threaten increasingly violent attacks that extend beyond the Wisconsin capital, if its demands are not met, writing, “Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, but we are all over the US, and we will issue no further warnings.”
Evans writes for Bellingcat, which is based in the Netherlands and describes itself as a collective of researchers and open-source journalists.
NBC15 News has not independently verified the contents of Evans’ tweets and are working to do so. We have also reached out to the Madison Police Department, the FBI, and the ATF for comment on the report and will update this story with any response from them.
In his reporting, Evans explained the name of the group, Jane’s Revenge, is a reference to Jane Collective, which the Chicago-based NPR-affiliate WBEZ recently described as a group of activists in Chicago who helped provide abortion access to thousands of women who did not have legal access in the years leading up to the Roe v. Wade verdict in 1973.
During a news conference Monday, MPD Chief Shon Barnes did not identify any possible suspects or organizations linked to the incident, although investigators have said they believed the attack was targeted.