NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Multiple police agencies are now investigating an attempted arson of a pro-life pregnancy resource center in Nashville.
Metro Nashville Police Department detectives and the FBI are looking into what happened at the Hope Clinic for Women on Hayes Street in Midtown. Police said this was the first act of vandalism related to the Supreme Court of the United States overturning Roe v. Wade last week, which effectively ended abortion in Tennessee on Tuesday.
The investigation started out with a burglar alarm at 1:38 a.m. on Wednesday. When officers arrived, police said they found the window broken with a Molotov cocktail-style device inside, where it was not ignited. Police said they found spray painting on the side of the building with the words: Jane's Revenge.
Gov. Bill Lee — who is on the advisory board and one of the founders of the clinic — said he considered the actions terrorism.
"This is terrorism and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Lee said in a tweet. "Stand with us in supporting clinics like Hope Clinic, who provide critical resources to Tennessee families."
In contrast, Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood are calling out Lee for not issuing the same sentiment when a Knoxville Planned Parenthood clinic endured arson.
“When a right-wing terrorist burned a Knoxville health center to the ground, Bill Lee was silent,” executive director Francie Hunt said. “The hypocrisy is plain for all to see. The terrorists in Knoxville who burned down our health center are out there evading the law, and listening to our governor today knowing they have his full support.”
Investigators are sending the device to a crime lab for analysis, police said.
