ShutDownDC announced on Friday that organizers would pay anyone who could tip protesters off to the locations of the conservative Supreme Court justices — and the price increased if they were still at the named location 30 minutes later.
The call for tips went out after news broke that Justice Brett Kavanaugh had been forced to leave Morton’s Steak House in Washington, D.C., through a rear exit in order to avoid a crowd of protesters gathered outside the restaurant.
“DC Service Industry Workers… If you see Kavanaugh, Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Coney Barrett or Roberts DM us with the details! We’ll venmo you $50 for a confirmed sighting and $200 if they’re still there 30 mins after your message,” @ShutDown_DC’s tweet read.
DC Service Industry Workers… If you see Kavanaugh, Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Coney Barrett or Roberts DM us with the details!
We'll venmo you $50 for a confirmed sighting and $200 if they're still there 30 mins after your message. https://t.co/xXWZ5JZiE7
— ShutDownDC (@ShutDown_DC) July 8, 2022
Politico’s Daniel Lippman reported on Kavanaugh’s disrupted dinner departure, noting, “Justice Brett Kavanaugh had to exit through the rear of Morton’s on Wednesday night after DC protestors showed up out front.”
NEW: Justice Brett Kavanaugh had to exit through the rear of Morton's on Wednesday night after DC protestors showed up out front. A Morton's rep told me: "Politics … should not trample the freedom at play of the right to congregate and eat dinner." https://t.co/wlA4J2nxYW pic.twitter.com/jpsfhB3JVo
— Daniel Lippman (@dlippman) July 8, 2022
Lippman reported that Kavanaugh did not actually come into contact with any of the protesters but left the restaurant through a back door without staying for dessert.
A spokesperson from Morton’s gave a statement after the incident, telling Politico, “Honorable Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh and all of our other patrons at the restaurant were unduly harassed by unruly protestors while eating dinner at our Morton’s restaurant. Politics, regardless of your side or views, should not trample the freedom at play of the right to congregate and eat dinner. There is a time and place for everything. Disturbing the dinner of all of our customers was an act of selfishness and void of decency.”
Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy questioned Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about the incident, asking whether President Joe Biden and his administration had any issues with protesters continuing to harass the conservative justices outside their homes or in public.
WATCH:
Doocy on Kavanaugh being forced out of a DC restaurant by protesters: "So these Justices, because protesters do not agree with an opinion… have no right to privacy?"
Jean-Pierre: "This is what a democracy is."pic.twitter.com/26EIf4ptiZ
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) July 8, 2022
“People should be allowed to be able to do that,” Jean-Pierre replied. “If it’s outside of a restaurant, if it’s peaceful, for sure.”
Doocy pressed again, asking whether she meant that the administration was signing off on protesters following the justices around simply because they didn’t like a ruling the court had issued.
“People have the right — this is what a democracy is,” Jean-Pierre insisted.