DANVILLE, Ill. (WAND) — An attack on the future site of a women's clinic in Danville has caused controversy throughout the community.
Philip J. Buyno, 73-years-old of Prophetsville, Illinois, was charged on Monday. According to court documents, Buyno is charged with terrorist threat, burglary, attempted arson, and criminal damage to property exceeding $10,000.
Buyno is now charged by federal criminal complaint with attempting to use fire to damage a building used in interstate commerce.
He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Urbana Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. A judge will address whether Buyno will be released on conditions of bond or held in custody pending further proceedings.
Abortion has been a hot-button issue in Danville with the City Council approving an ordinance that would ban shipments of abortion pills to the city.
The newly formed VC Pride Coalition, which has previously spoken out against the ordinance, spoke to WAND News regarding the attack.
"Let's focus and call it what it is. This is an act of terrorism, and this is a fight against women's rights," said Caylynne Dobbles, President of VC Pride Coalition.
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According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, Danville police officers responded to an alarm at 600 N. Logan Ave. Saturday at 4:30 a.m.
Buyno is accused of intentionally driving a vehicle with flammable material into the building. According to the affidavit, he brought several containers filled with gasoline with him.
The site was purchased by the Indianapolis-based McGhee Investment Group. That group is associated with the Indianapolis Clinic for Women. That clinic does provide abortion services.
Dobbles hopes to hear from the city's reaction to this act.
"This man that ran into the building did it purposefully. With explosives in the car, but yet nobody is talking about it," said Dobbles.
WAND reached out to Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. who said that he did not have a comment due to this being an open investigation.
"The community should know that not everyone on either side is like this. Not everyone is out to hurt people or harm buildings. And that the VC Pride Coalition is here," said Dobbles.
Danville Police told WAND:
"Due to coordinating efforts with federal authorities we will not be releasing information at this time. The initial release of information will come from either the FBI or the US Attorney's Office once they have a press release prepared."
On Tuesday, Danville police sent an updated statement regarding clarification of the name of the future women's clinic.
"Over the past few months the site has been referred to by different names in different talks or meetings and the names used are generic or based on the proposed use of the site to provide women’s health care services. This site is not associated with the Danville Women’s Care Clinic or any of the other women’s health facilities currently operating in the City of Danville. To clarify and avoid any further confusion, at this point we don’t have a clear and definitive answer on what the name of the site is going to be. The information we have as of now is the site was purchased by the Indianapolis-based McGhee Investment Group. That group is associated with the Indianapolis Clinic for Women and that clinic does provide abortion services. Until we have a definitive name associated with this site we will now be referring to this site as the proposed women’s clinic at 600 N. Logan Ave. "
If convicted of attempted arson, Buyno faces a minimum penalty of five years up to twenty years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release.
The charges are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, and the Danville Police Department. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller is representing the government in the prosecution.
On Tuesday afternoon, Governor JB Pritzker released this image on Twitter in connection to the attack:
From Governor JB Pritzker's official Twitter page.
Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
