Share this @internewscast.com

Authorities have determined that a fire that burned down a Planned Parenthood clinic in Tennessee on New Year’s Eve was set intentionally.

The Knoxville Fire Department worked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to make the assessment, which it announced Thursday. No suspects have yet been named.

Flames completely engulfed the clinic on the morning of Dec. 31 before 7 a.m. local time. Nine units, with 30 firefighters, flocked to the scene, but the building was “a total loss,” the department said.

Photos show only a partial skeleton of the building left standing, surrounded by charred rubble.

The structure was under renovations at the time and no one was injured.

Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood clinic was also the target of an attack around the same time last year, when a white man with a bandanna over his face is believed to have blown out the clinic’s front doors with a shotgun. While the FBI lent assistance to the Knoxville Police Department, no one has been arrested or charged in relation to the shooting.

That incident took place Jan. 22, 2021, on the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights decision by the Supreme Court. No one was injured, but abortion rights activists worried at the time that it was a sign of more violence to come, as HuffPost reported last year.

Over the past several months, some Republican-controlled state legislatures have taken steps toward introducing extreme abortion bans that would all but outlaw the procedure within state boundaries; proponents of the legislation hope that a conservative-leaning Supreme Court would now back it up.

Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information on the arson; anyone with knowledge of the incident is asked to contact the Knoxville Fire Department.

Source: huffpost

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like

Woman Charged with Burglary and Stalking Following Alleged Home Intrusion

Staff report GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Authorities arrested 31-year-old Lizandra Isabel Borrell early…

Prosecutors Say Emmanuel Haro Endured Extended Abuse and Succumbed to His Injuries

Authorities investigating the disappearance and suspected death of 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro stated…

Bowling Alley Owner Accused of Hiring Hitman to Target Officials

Insets, from left: Stephen Smink (New Jersey Department of Corrections) and Cumberland…

Man Confesses to Killing Boy in Attempt to Appear ‘Cool’ with Gun

Left inset: Steven Merkel (Walworth County Sheriff’s Office). Right inset: Steven Merkel’s…

Man Accused of Shooting Neighbor During Pet Guinea Pig Burial

Inset left: John Martin Dixon (Texas Department of Public Safety). Inset right:…

Family of victims express outrage towards man responsible for killing three people

Inset: Spencer McDonald (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department). Background: The apartment complex…

Court Documents: CalFire Captain Allegedly Killed Girlfriend and Her Son to Silence Them from Testifying About a Crime

A fire captain in California, accused of murdering his girlfriend and her…

Rapper from Lake City Receives 15-Year Sentence for Fleeing Deadly Accident Scene

Staff report GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Eric Javah Baker, 22, who performs under…

Young Man Fatally Stabbed at Bus Station

Police are investigating the stabbing death of a young man in western…

Woman Allegedly Shoots Father Following Argument, Police Reports

Background: News footage of Leah Verona Scott in court on Aug. 27…

Teen Broadcasted Stabbing Incident Live on Discord, Police Report

Inset: Luis McLaughlin Jr. (Newark Police Department). Background: The site on Thornton…

Farmhand Exclaims in Court Upon Receiving Murder Sentence

An ill-fated conversation was all it took for a farmhand to decide…