Sandy MaloneWashington, DC – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned law enforcement partners this month about threats to burn down or storm the U.S. Supreme Court and to murder the judges and their clerks, members of Congress, and protesters in response to a leaked draft of an opinion that indicated the justices were planning to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The DHS memo sent on May 13 warned the federal agency’s partners that “domestic violence extremists and criminal actors have adopted narratives surrounding abortion rights to encourage violence, likely increasing the threat to government, religious, and reproductive healthcare personnel and facilities and ideological opponents,” Axios reported.
The memo predicted the threats – which also targeted clergy and health care providers – “are likely to persist and may increase leading up to and following the issuing of the Court’s official ruling.”
“Some racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists’ embrace of pro-life narratives may be linked to the perception of wanting to ‘save white children’ and ‘fight white genocide,'” the memo read.
Although abortion issue-related violence has historically come from the pro-life extremist side, DHS warned law enforcement in the memo that this time, the threats were coming from both sides, Axios reported.
“We assess that the broader ideological spectrum of potential DVEs (domestic violent extremists) linked to recent abortion-related threats likely seek to target a range of individuals and entities,” the memo read, according to CNN.
“Historically, violent acts related to this issue were primarily committed by abortion-related violent extremists that opposed abortion rights. Going forward, grievances related to restricting abortion access could fuel violence by pro-choice abortion-related violent extremists and other DVEs,” DHS wrote.
DHS offered an example of a social media administrator who on May 7 encouraged other users to engage in “unrelenting violence” as an alternative to counter-protest, according to CNN.
But law enforcement shouldn’t be too aggressive in trying to do anything about these extremists, according to the memo.
“The mere advocacy of political or social positions, political activism, use of strong rhetoric, or generalized philosophic embrace of violent tactics does not constitute domestic violent extremism or illegal activity and is constitutionally protected,” DHS reminded its law enforcement partners.
DHS told Axios the agency was committed to protecting free speech and other civil rights and civil liberties.
“DHS is also committed to working with our partners across every level of government and the private sector to share timely information and intelligence, prevent all forms of violence, and to support law enforcement efforts to keep our communities safe,” the memo read.
Intelligence officials said a number of the threats were targeted at protesters participating in lawful demonstrations, CNN reported.
The DHS memo said people that “across a broad range of ideologies are attempting to justify and inspire attacks against abortion-related targets and ideological opponents at lawful protests,” according to CNN.
Protests have also erupted outside the homes of the Supreme Court justices, The Washington Post reported.
President Joe Biden’s administration has said the protests are fine as long as they remain peaceful, but legal experts have said that protesting at the home of a member of judiciary is probably illegal regardless of how peaceful it is.
Law enforcement agencies in the various jurisdictions in which the justices live have so far handled security at the private homes in a variety of ways and there is pressure on the Maryland and Virginia governors to take more action to intervene, The Washington Post reported.
A “non-scalable” fence was erected around the U.S. Supreme Court the first week of May in response to protests that erupted after a leaked draft of an opinion indicated the justices were planning to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Workers began installing the eight-foot fencing panels on the south side of the Supreme Court building, which is located directly across from the U.S. Capitol, on May 4, NBC News reported.
The new fence replaced bike racks that had blocked the building earlier in the day.
Police who were there described the fence as “non-scalable” and similar to what was erected around the U.S. Capitol complex after the Capitol riot, NBC News reported.
The fence built around the Capitol after the Jan. 6, 2021 riot has been put up and taken down several times since, including most recently when a trucker convoy planned to block city streets in the nation’s capital.
Protests erupted in front of the nation’s highest court on May 2 after someone leaked a draft opinion in a controversial Mississippi abortion rights case.
The draft ruling indicated that a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices were planning to vote to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling established in 1973, NBC News reported.
The Supreme Court was expected to issue its ruling in the Mississippi case in June or July.
Pro-life and pro-choice activists have clashed during protests in front of the court and more demonstrations are planned, the Daily Mail reported.
One group called “Ruth Sent Us” published the home addresses of conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts.
Holly Matkin
