Gov. Glenn Youngkin says police monitoring Supreme Court justices’ homes after doxxing
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the state’s police are monitoring the protests planned for this week outside the homes of Supreme Court justices who were doxxed by pro-abortion activists as they are poised to release their decision in a Mississippi abortion case.
“The governor is aware and Virginia State Police will monitor the situation,” The Epoch Times quoted the governor’s spokeswoman Macaulay Porter as saying in an email. “VSP will assist federal and local law enforcement as needed to ensure the safety of our citizens, including Supreme Court justices, who call Virginia home.”
Pro-choice group Ruth Sent Us, which is named after the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, recently posted a map with the addresses of six justices, three of whom live in Virginia, encouraging people to protest outside their homes. The other three justices live in Maryland.
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Google Maps had removed the map as of Sunday. “This map is no longer available due to a violation of our Terms of Service and/or policies,” it said on the group’s website.
“ANNOUNCING: Walk-by Wednesday, May 11, 2022!” says the group’s website. “At the homes of the six extremist justices, three in Virginia and three in Maryland. If you’d like to join or lead a peaceful protest, let us know.”
Appointed by Republican presidents, some of these justices are set to overturn the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which usurped state law on abortion and legalized the practice nationwide.
One of the three justices who live in Virginia is Justice Samuel Alito, a George W. Bush appointee who wrote the recently leaked draft majority opinion.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would join Alito to form a majority, said Politico, which published the draft opinion.
The pro-abortion group also called for protests outside Catholic churches on Sunday.
The New York Post noted that the planned protests could be illegal.
According to 18 U.S.C. 1507, which relates to Obstruction of Justice, anyone who has the intent of “interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the tent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer” and pickets or parades in or near a court building or residents “occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness or court officer” will face a fine or imprisonment of one year.
Also raising concerns about the intimidation tactics, The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote, “Everyone has the right to protest, but assailing the families of judges at home is a blatant attempt at intimidation. If the leaker wanted to mobilize public hostility to the Court, he is succeeding.”
They added, “The threats against the Court are enough that a fence has gone up around the Supreme Court building, and new security has been laid on. A violent act by a fanatic can’t be ruled out, and this warrants the attention of Attorney General Merrick Garland. Federal law makes it a crime to threaten federal judges, and that includes threats of vigilantism.”
The WSJ editors also noted that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has not criticized the pro-abortion group's call for protests or the leak of the draft opinion. “What happened to President Biden’s concern for declining public trust in government institutions?” they asked.
