The FBI is trying to track down a suspect seen in surveillance video last month painting swastikas on a faith-based crisis pregnancy center in Wasilla.
According to a Friday statement from the FBI’s Anchorage office, the incident occurred just after midnight Oct. 20 at the HeartReach Center on South Seward Meridian Parkway in Wasilla.
“(T)he individual approached the HeartReach Center and spray-painted approximately 10 swastika symbols on the building and dropped nails in the parking lot,” FBI officials said in the statement.
The bureau’s statement described the suspect’s apparel as a dark-colored, long-sleeve shirt over a black hooded sweatshirt, and a light-colored face covering.
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FBI spokeswoman Chloe Martin declined to answer detailed questions about the case Friday, citing the ongoing investigation. She said the bureau is investigating the incident as a possible violation of the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which prohibits threats of force, obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services.
A U.S. Justice Department list of cases charged under the act includes a defendant who called an Anchorage clinic in 2016 to make bomb and death threats, before being sentenced to probation.
The HeartReach Center’s website hosts information pages for prospective parents on abortion, adoption and parenting, but notes that it does not provide abortions or refer patients for them. According to the website of a support group for the center, it was founded as the Valley Crisis Pregnancy Center in 1985 to “ensure that those facing unplanned pregnancy in the Mat-Su Valley had access to truthful, life-affirming information and support.”
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The center was closed Friday. An Alaska Public Media request for comment on the case wasn’t immediately answered.
The bureau asks that anyone with information about the identity of the suspect call the FBI’s Anchorage office at 907-276-4441 or submit a tip through its website.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
