Authorities have arrested a suspect in the firebombing of a pro-life clinic in Madison, Wisconsin, following the leak of a draft of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision.
Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury, 29, a resident of Madison, was arrested in Boston. Prosecutors say that Roychowdhury was involved in a May 8, 2022, attack on a clinic inside a Madison office building that came days after the leak of a draft Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.
“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,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in a statement. “I commend the commitment and professionalism of law enforcement personnel who worked exhaustively to ensure that justice is served.”
At about 6 a.m. on Mother’s Day last year, police responded to reports of a fire in a Madison office building. Police entered the Wisconsin Family Action pro-life clinic and found the shards of a mason jar under a broken window with “the lid and screw top … burned black,” according to the Department of Justice. A purple lighter was lying nearby. Another mason jar, this one intact, was set near the opposite wall with a blue rag hanging out. The rag was singed.
On one of the outside walls of the clinic was spray-painted the message: “If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either.”
“Violence is never an acceptable way for anyone to express their views or their disagreement,” Assistant Director Robert Wells said in a statement. “Today’s arrest demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to vigorously pursue those responsible for this dangerous attack and others across the country, and to hold them accountable for their criminal actions.”
Authorities said they arrested Roychowdhury after the FBI matched his DNA with DNA found at the clinic. FBI agents found and tailed Roychowdhury earlier this month, nabbing some food he tossed in a public trash can to get a sample of his DNA. It was then sent to a forensic lab for testing.
Authorities arrested Roychowdhury at Boston Logan International Airport on Tuesday morning. He had earlier purchased a one-way ticket from Boston to Guatemala City for a flight departing later Tuesday.
Roychowdhury faces a minimum of five years in prison and a max of 20 years if convicted.