Top Republicans are accusing Democrats of stoking the flames of violence against Supreme Court justices through incendiary rhetoric following news that an armed man was arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home on Wednesday evening.
“The Biden admin encouraged protests outside of justices’ homes,” Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Wednesday. “Schumer threatened: ‘You have released the whirlwind & you will pay the price!’ Now a would-be assassin went to the home of a Supreme Court Justice.”
“Biden and the Dems need to stop their irresponsible and incendiary rhetoric on Roe and condemn the violence coming from their supporters,” he added.
The senator’s remarks about Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer refer Schumer’s comments made at a rally in front of the United States Supreme Court where justices were hearing an abortion case (the court ultimately ruled with abortion advocates in June Medical Services v. Russo).
Schumer threatened both Kavanaugh and Gorsuch over potentially ruling against abortion.
“I want to tell you Gorsuch,” Schumer warned, “and I want to tell you Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price.”
“You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,” he added.
The threats prompted a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts, who warned that “threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous.”
Cause and effect. https://t.co/k0Pa9cRsvp
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 8, 2022
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Wednesday for House Democrats to pass the Senate bill that expands security for the Supreme Court justices.
“This morning’s disturbing reports are exactly why the Senate unanimously passed a Supreme Court security bill weeks ago,” he tweeted. “But House Democrats have inexplicably blocked it. House Democrats need to stop their blockade and pass this uncontroversial bill today.”
This morning’s disturbing reports are exactly why the Senate unanimously passed a Supreme Court security bill weeks ago. But House Democrats have inexplicably blocked it. House Democrats need to stop their blockade and pass this uncontroversial bill today. pic.twitter.com/wd8UB5RDvm
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) June 8, 2022
Supreme Court Public Information Officer Patricia McCabe confirmed to The Daily Wire on Wednesday morning that “at approximately 1:50 a.m. today, a man was arrested near Justice Kavanaugh’s residence.”
“The man was armed and made threats against Justice Kavanaugh,” she said. “He was transported to Montgomery County Police 2nd District.”
That individual was an adult male from California, who was taken into custody and transported to the Montgomery County Police Station after officers received a call at 1:40 am in the area of Kavanaugh’s chevy chase home, the Montgomery County Police Department told The Daily Wire on Wednesday.
The case has now been handed over to the FBI, the spokeswoman said, and the Montgomery Police Department is not able to comment on whether or not he had a weapon.
New: Here's the unsealed arrest affidavit for Nicholas Roske — the man arrested near Justice Kavanaugh's home. He had a Glock 17 pistol w/ two magazines, tactical chest rig and knife, a pistol light, pepper spray, zip ties and other tools. https://t.co/jqF2B6p9Ml pic.twitter.com/dcwJGPhh9g
— Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) June 8, 2022
The arrest comes after several weeks of angry protests at the Supreme Court and at the homes of conservative justices in the wake of the leak of a draft decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade. Pro-abortion protesters and some Democratic lawmakers have deemed the court as “illegitimate” in anticipation of the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
The case is a challenge to a Mississippi law greatly restricting the federal right to abortion granted by the landmark 1973 Roe decision. Justice Samuel Alito wrote that Roe and a subsequent case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which upheld Roe, both must be overturned, and the right to allow, deny, or restrict the right to an abortion must reside with states.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” the 98-page opinion states. “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.”
Protests have taken place outside the homes of the five Supreme Court justices who signed onto Alito’s draft opinion, which would overturn the landmark 1973 decision that made the right to abortion a constitutional right. Protesters have also gathered outside the home of Chief Justice John Roberts, whose position on the opinion remains unknown.