A former college student who set a Wyoming abortion clinic on fire in 2022 was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday, according to Wyoming News Now, a local media outlet.
Lorna Roxanne Green, 22, went to the Wellspring Health Access clinic in March 2023, just weeks before it was set to open, and proceeded to break a window before filling aluminum pans with gasoline and starting the facility on fire, resulting in $300,000 worth in damages, according to The Associated Press. She pleaded guilty to “arson of a facility engaged in interstate commerce” in July and was sentenced by a judge to five years in prison and three years of supervised release, according to Wyoming News Now. (RELATED: Judge Strikes Down State’s Abortion Ballot Language For Being ‘Argumentative’)
“No matter what an individual’s opinions or objectives may be, the use of violence and property destruction to advance them is never acceptable,” U.S. Attorney Nicholas Vassallo said following the judge’s decision. “This was a reckless and serious crime which endangered the community and caused significant financial harm to the clinic’s owner. The sentence imposed today, five years of federal incarceration, appropriately reflects the gravity of Ms. Green’s offense.”
A college student who allegedly set fire to a building that was set to a clinic will stand trial for arson, a court ruled Friday.
Lorna Roxanne Green told investigators that the clinic she burnt down was causing her anxiety and nightmares.https://t.co/FjNE9YuL5D pic.twitter.com/EHMdAp6KsX
— Channels Television (@channelstv) June 3, 2023
Officers arrested Green several weeks after the attack on March 21 after witnesses identified her and the local police department officered a 5,000 reward. Green told law enforcement she set the fire because the opening of the clinic, which was set for June 14, created a lot of anxiety and that she had nightmares, prompting her to set the fire, according to ABC News.
Green told the judge following her conviction that she regrets her actions, according to the AP. “I accept full responsibility for what I have done,” Green said. The judge asked Green when she realized she had made the wrong decision and she replied, “I knew right after.”
The clinic, which is currently up and running, offers abortion and transgender services such as hormone therapy, “assistance with changing legal documents,” “wellness visits and check-ups” and more, according to its website. Wyoming passed an abortion ban in March but the law was temporarily halted by a district judge days later, who explained that the courts needed to first determine whether abortion is health care as protected under state law.
Ryan Semerad, Green’s attorney, did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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