A Wisconsin man was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in federal prison in April for attempting to damage a building occupied by a pro-life organization on May 8, 2022, because he was upset that Roe v. Wade might be overturned.
Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury pled guilty in December 2023 to firebombing the office of Wisconsin Family Action in Madison, Wisconsin, just days after the draft Supreme Court decision of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked to the press. At about six in the morning on May 8, police responded to a call about a fire in the office building. Inside a broken a window was a mason jar with a lid and a singed blue cloth tucked into the top. The jar reportedly contained a clear fluid that smelled like an accelerant. The building was also spray painted with the message, “If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either.”
The attack was said to be carried out by three individuals, and Roychowdhury’s DNA was found at the scene.
“Roychowdhury’s arson was an act of domestic terrorism,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea. “Domestic terrorism is cowardly and profoundly undemocratic. It is not speech; it is not an exchange of ideas; instead, it is an attempt to harm or frighten one’s fellow citizens, thus driving Americans apart and weakening the fabric of our democratic society. The U.S. Department of Justice, and this U.S. Attorney’s Office, with our local and federal law enforcement partners will never flinch from holding domestic terrorists accountable.”
READ: Has your state experienced recent pro-abortion violence? Find out here.
After surveillance video of the attack was reviewed, police connected the attack to a similar one a year before, and after observing Roychowdhury disposing of food in a public garbage can, they collected DNA and compared it to the DNA found at the scene, finding that he was the person who had firebombed the pro-life organization. Roychowdhury was arrested at Boston Logan International Airport after arriving for a flight to Guatemala.
“Acts of violent extremism undermine the foundation which supports our democracy and compromise the ability for everyone to live their lives as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States,” said Milwaukee FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Hensle. “The outcome today represents the tireless efforts of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force comprised of federal, state, and local law enforcement partners who are dedicated to identifying and bringing to justice any individual or groups of individuals who threaten and/or commit acts of violence against the citizens of Wisconsin.”
The seven-and-a-half-year sentence for the firebombing is two-and-a-half years longer than that of pro-life activist Lauren Handy, who received about five years in federal prison for conspiracy of rights and violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for participating in a pro-life “rescue” that she participated in back in 2020 at a late-term abortion facility in D.C.
Editor’s Note 11/25/2024: A previous version of this article stated that Roychowdhury firebombed CompassCare. We regret the error.
