CASPER, Wyo. — Casper Mayor Bruce Knell apologized on Tuesday for posting a picture of a fire in response to an Oil City News story about the Wellspring Health Access clinic opening nearly a year after its building sustained heavy damage by an arsonist.
The Wellspring Health Access clinic will offer abortions, among other family planning and reproductive health services.
The mayor’s post was made about two weeks ago. When first asked if he’d expected that the singular image might raise inferences to the arson case, for which a Casper woman is being tried in federal court, Knell told Oil City News: “Not at all, the thought never entered my mind. … I typed in ‘hell fire’ and literally picked one.”
The post, which was deleted per internal Oil City News policy, sparked public comment about abortion and whether it’s appropriate for a government official to voice personal opinions on such an issue.
At the regular Tuesday council session, his voice at times breaking, Knell apologized and reiterated earlier statements explaining reasons for his action.
“In poor taste I made a comment I feel was misinterpreted,” Knell said. “It was not a picture of a burning building. I didn’t do that. I put a picture of a guy dancing in a fire because in my religious beliefs, if you sin against God you go to Hell unless you repent.”
His problem with the clinic is they do abortions on a daily basis and no one is repenting, the mayor said.
Knell’s comments came at the end of a regular council session that started with about an hour of public comment sparked by the mayor’s response to Wellspring’s upcoming opening. He said his personal opinion is separate from his government role and he hopes those comments do not reflect on his fellow city councilors.
“As the mayor, I welcome a business into our community that is legally operating in our city,” he said. “That’s not the issue for me. The issue is the unborn child.”
The mayor said the post was done as an act of kindness and not intended to incite violence.
“But I will tell you, I apologize to you,” Knell said. “I apologize to all of you, to the City of Casper and all their residents, because I did not mean to hurt anyone in any way.”
Knell and other councilors who spoke on the topic expressed appreciation for the opportunity to address the controversial issue civilly and openly.
“I had some great discussions this week with a lot of people,” Knell said. “I knew what was coming.”
Knell said he is OK with what he had said, just not how he’d done the post.
“I just don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings,” he said. “If that happened to you, I wholeheartedly apologize to you.”
