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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is accusing Attorney General Merrick Garland of inaction on the protesters who flocked to the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh last week following an alleged assassination attempt on his life.
In a Tuesday letter sent to Garland, Hawley raised concerns that despite demonstrations outside Kavanaugh’s home and an increase in pro-abortion attacks on pregnancy resource centers, no significant action has been taken. Federal law stipulates that picketing at the homes of judges with the intent to intimidate them or influencing their rulings is illegal.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., speaks during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of the Air Force in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2023 and the Future Years Defense Program, in Dirksen Building on Tuesday, May 3, 2022.
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“To tamp down on this wave of violence, you must immediately stand up and enforce the law, prosecute those who break it, and condemn the violent rhetoric coming from the left,” Hawley wrote.
On Thursday, 26-year-old Nicholas Roske of California was arrested for allegedly plotting to kill Justice Kavanaugh over what he anticipated would be Kavanaugh’s decision on a Supreme Court case that could potentially decide the fate of Roe v. Wade. Later that evening, protesters noisily demonstrated outside Kavanaugh’s home with chants and drums.
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The demonstrations were among a spike in such activities in response to a leaked Supreme Court opinion draft that suggested the Court was on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that legalized abortion nationwide. In the weeks since its publication, pro-life pregnancy centers have also been under assault.
A drumline marched outside of Kavanaugh’s house after an alleged assassination attempt
(Fox News)
Hawley suggested the tensions went back even further, pointing to Senator Chuck Schumer’s remarks on the steps of the Supreme Court in March 2020, telling 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.”
Hawley further accused other Democratic officials of provoking “illegal activity against Justices,” in violation of federal law.
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“All of this rhetoric emboldens not only the man who tried to take the life of Justice Kavanaugh, but also the radicals who have attacked pregnancy resource centers across the country,” Hawley said, adding: “When Democratic officials openly say it is fine to flout the law and commit crimes, radicals take note. That is why is so outrageous that, hours after the assassination attempt, your office did not immediately arrest illegal picketers who surround Justice Kavanaugh’s house in a renewed attempt to intimidate.”
A group of drummers marched outside of Kavanaugh’s house after an alleged assassination attempt.
(Fox News)
Hawley ended his letter by requesting that the attorney general provide a full account of why his office did not arrest the protesters outside Kavanaugh’s home and why “you are dragging your feet on arresting criminals for the firebombing of pregnancy resources centers across the country.”
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Fox News has reached out to the Department of Justice for a response.
