Minneapolis nonprofit center that counsels women about abortion alternatives is vandalized

A nonprofit center in Minneapolis that counsels women about alternatives to abortion had its windows broken and building tagged with graffiti over the weekend.

The vandalism occurred early Saturday at New Life Family Services' recently opened First Care Center in the 2000 block of S. Chicago Avenue, according to a police report.

Video posted on Facebook by the center shows among the messages on the wall "If abortions arn't safe neither r u"  and "Jane was here." Jane Roe was the pseudonym used by plaintiff Norma McCorvey in the U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which gave women the federally protected right to abortion.

A nationally known group has been similarly, and sometimes violently, targeting centers opposed to abortion since the weeks before the court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. In mid-June, the same group took responsibility for graffiti and broken windows at the Minneapolis offices of the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life overnight, according to a nonpartisan international group that tracks terror activities,

As of late Monday afternoon, there were no arrests and no public acknowledgment of responsibility in this incident.

Police spokesman Adam Kennedy said "we are exploring all possibilities [about who is behind the vandalism], and we are hoping to get to the bottom of it."

Kennedy said a Metro Transit bus driver flagged down officers shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday and reported seeing two suspects damaging the building before they fled down an alley.

Tammy Kocher, executive director of New Life, said police told her that "this is considered an act of domestic terrorism and they've turned it over to the [U.S.] Department of Justice." Kocher added that New Life has reported the incident to the FBI.

The center's surveillance video captured two people wearing masks and gloves defacing the building over a two-minute period, she said. Kocher added that about 25 protesters gathered outside the center later Saturday. "The protesters denied to our security guard responsibility for the vandalism, but it didn't deter them from continuing with their protest," she said.

According to its website, New Life says that "through practical and spiritual counsel, we provide education and support with the hope each client will make a life-affirming decision for their unborn child."

New Life operates five centers entirely with private funding in the Twin Cities and the Rochester area.

In a statement issued over the weekend, Kocher said, "We are fully committed to continue serving the Phillips community, as well as at all our centers, with the holistic compassion and care families deserve."

Kocher went on to point out that its centers provide at no cost 100,000 diapers, baby clothes, car seats, strollers and other supplies every year to families in need.

Also, Kocher wrote, its licensed social workers support without charge more than 2,000 women each year "through the challenges of motherhood, including many who are experiencing homelessness, domestic violence, or mental health crisis."