Feds charge man with firebombing pro-life group’s office

Wisconsin Family Action’s office was damaged after Molotov cocktails were thrown into the building and a fire was started.

Wisconsin Family Action/Twitter

(Daily Caller News Foundation) — A Wisconsin man was arrested Tuesday in connection with an attack on a pro-life organization’s office just days after the leak of the Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

Authorities identified the man, Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury, as responsible for a May 8 firebombing of the Wisconsin Family Action office based on DNA samples recovered from a partially eaten burrito that matched those found at the scene, according to the court filing obtained by Reuters. Roychowdhury was arrested at a Boston airport Tuesday and will appear today in the U.S. District Court in Boston, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Wisconsin Family Action’s office was damaged after Molotov cocktails were thrown into the building, a fire was started, and the building was painted with the message, “If abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t either.”

“According to the complaint, Mr. Roychowdhury used an incendiary device in violation of federal law in connection with his efforts to terrorize and intimidate a private organization,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in a press release. “I commend the commitment and professionalism of law enforcement personnel who worked exhaustively to ensure that justice is served.”

The leaked Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which found “no constitutional right to abortion,” was published by Politico on May 2.

Roychowdhury was identified earlier as a suspect for graffiti painted on Wisconsin State Capitol grounds during a Jan. 21 protest, which read “We will get revenge,” according to court documents. He faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.

“This group of local and federal law enforcement officers has worked, with the federal prosecutors, diligently and creatively to move the investigation forward,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea for the Western District of Wisconsin in a DOJ news release. “This case is an example of the results law enforcement can achieve when local and federal law investigators work as a team.”

In January, the DOJ indicted two suspects in vandalisms that occurred at three Florida pro-life pregnancy centers following the overturn of Roe v. Wade last June, Catholic News Agency reported. The indictments were the first known since the string of attacks on pro-life clinics, churches, and organizations, which the Family Research Council records have reached over 100, began last summer.

Wisconsin Family Action did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Katelynn Richardson