By STEVEN ERTELT
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeNews) — Radical abortion advocates across the country are engaging in violence, firebombing pro-life groups, vandalizing and disrupting churches, forcing pregnancy centers to close and staging intimidating protests outside the homes of members of the Supreme Court.
But Justice Samuel Alito, author of the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, says he and his colleagues will not be intimidated.
From a secure location to protect him, Alito spoke the night of May 12 to a crowd at the Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University, according to Tyler O’Neil at Fox News.
A member of the audience asked a question about the current violent environment following his draft.
“I think it would just be really helpful for all of us to hear, personally, are you all doing okay in these very challenging times?” the questioner asked.
Alito said the members of the High Court were focusing on their work despite the intimidation tactics.
“This is a subject I told myself I wasn’t going to talk about today regarding, you know — given all the circumstances,” Alito replied.
After a pause, he added: “The court right now, we had our conference this morning, we’re doing our work. We’re taking new cases, we’re headed toward the end of the term, which is always a frenetic time as we get our opinions out.”
On May 12, the U.S. Marshal’s office announced it will provide additional security and protection for the justices. The order came from Attorney General Merrick Garland in response to demands that his office stop illegal intimidation and protests outside the justices’ homes after news broke about a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft ruling that overturns Roe v. Wade.
Senators Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio said that’s not enough and that the leftists engaging in harassing and threatening protests outside the homes of justices like Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito are doing so illegally.
Cotton blasted Attorney General Garland for the Justice Department not arresting the leftist protesters. In a letter to Garland, Cotton threatened impeachment proceedings if the attorney general didn’t “take immediate action to enforce the law even-handedly against your party’s political opponents.”
“Please explain why you have refused to enforce the federal law against picketing and protesting at the homes of Supreme Court Justices,” Cotton wrote Garland. “Left-wing mobs have recently targeted the homes of Justices (John) Roberts, (Samuel) Alito, (Clarence) Thomas, (Neil) Gorsuch, (Amy Coney) Barrett, and (Brett) Kavanaugh, a blatant and obvious violation of 18 USC § 1507.
“These unlawful protesters widely publicized their plans, yet it appears that no federal law-enforcement officers were present to arrest the lawbreakers and no investigation is ongoing. Further, President Biden’s own press secretary announced this week that the Biden administration ‘certainly continue[s] to encourage (protests) outside of judges’ homes, and that’s the president’s position’.”
The protests are technically illegal in Virginia and the abortion activists should have been arrested.
According to the Code of Virginia, “Any person who shall engage in picketing before or about the residence or dwelling place of any individual, or who shall assemble with another person or persons in a manner which disrupts or threatens to disrupt any individual’s right to tranquility in his home, shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.”
They’re also a violation of federal law.
Federal U.S. code 1507 prohibits individuals from protesting with the “intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer . . . in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer.”
Violators face fines and/or imprisonment of up to a year.
Alito, the author of the draft opinion, and his family were moved from their home to a secure location due to the threats of violence.
Meanwhile, some Democrat leaders have condoned the illegal activity.
“So long as they are peaceful, that’s OK with me,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on May 10.
Similarly, President Joe Biden’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the White House “encourages” the protests outside of the judges’ homes as long as they are peaceful.
In a letter to the attorney general May 10, Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) slammed the protests outside the justices’ homes as “flagrantly illegal.”
In a separate letter to Garland on May 11, Republican Governors Larry Hogan of Maryland and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia also urged the Justice Department to “provide sustained resources to protect the justices and ensure these residential areas are secure,” the Washington Times reports.
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