A group that calls itself “Jane’s Revenge” has taken credit for Sunday’s arson attack against a pro-life organization in Madison, Wisconsin.
In a series of tweets Tuesday, Robert Evans, an “investigative journalist” for the website Bellingcat, revealed that he had received a statement from the group through a trusted intermediary.
Bellingcat is a western intelligence-backed website of alleged investigative journalists based in the Netherlands that targets the “far-right” and runs overseas influence operations intended to “weaken Russia,” including the Russia collusion hoax.
Evans said the group’s statement was originally posted on the dark web.
The statement was sent to me through an anonymous intermediary I trust. It is hosted on a Tor site (link to follow). The statement is titled "first communique" and opens with the words, "This is not a declaration of war".https://t.co/5ZhcDHiA7A pic.twitter.com/9Y0d03mXoq
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) May 10, 2022
According to Evans, Jane’s Revenge is “a reference” to Jane Collective, a radical Chicago-based pro-abortion group that performed thousands of abortions in the pre-Roe vs. Wade era of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was not clear how the two groups are linked, if at all.
In their message, Jane’s Revenge says the arson attack on the Wisconsin Family Action office was “only a warning” and they will “adopt the minimum military requirement for a political struggle” if pro-life establishments and organizations are not disbanded in next 30 days.
“We demand the disbanding of all anti-choice establishments, fake clinics, and violent anti-choice groups within the next thirty days,” the group said in the statement.
The attempted firebombing came less than a week after a draft of a majority opinion overturning Roe vs. Wade leaked from the U.S. Supreme Court. Police on Monday said they found two Molotov cocktails at the scene. Photographs showed fire and smoke damage inside the office, as well as graffiti which read, “If abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t either.”
An anarchist symbol was spray painted on the outside wall of the building, along with “1312,” the numerical version of the antifa slogan ACAB, or “All Cops Are Bastards.”
More photos from the scene: pic.twitter.com/XlgEiZLrno
— Alexander Shur (@AlexanderShur) May 8, 2022
“This is not a mere ‘difference of opinion’ as some have framed it. We are literally fighting for our lives,” the statement read.
We will not sit still while we are killed and forced into servitude. We have run thin on patience and mercy for those who seek to strip us of what little autonomy we have left. As you continue to bomb clinics and assassinate doctors with impunity, so too shall we adopt increasingly extreme tactics to maintain freedom over our own bodies.
We are forced to adopt the minimum military requirement for a political struggle. Again, this was only a warning. Next time the infrastructure of the enslavers will not survive. Medical imperialism will not face a passive enemy. Wisconsin is the first flashpoint, but we are all over the US, and we will issue no further warnings.
And we will not stop, we will not back down, nor will we hesitate to strike until the inalienable right to manage our own health is returned to us.
We are not one group, but many. We are in your city. We are in every city. Your repression only strengthens our accomplice-ship and resolve.
“I believe this statement is newsworthy for a number of reasons, including the fact that a large number of people are speculating that this attack may have been a false flag,” Evans wrote on Twitter. “I would be very surprised if this was not a legitimate attack.”
Madison PD Chief Shon Barnes said during a news conference Monday that the arson attack is not being investigated as a terroristic threat. No arrests have been made.