The Department of Homeland Security is anticipating violence and unrest after the final release of the Supreme Court majority opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion on a national level.
Threats to the Supreme Court justices, members of Congress, and other public officials, clergy and health care providers “are likely to persist and may increase leading up to and following the issuing of the Court’s official ruling,” according to an unclassified May 13 memo by DHS’ intelligence bureau obtained by Axios.
According to the memo, law enforcement agencies are investigating social media threats to burn down the Supreme Court and/or murder the justices and their clerks in response to the overturning of Roe, which activists began bracing for after the leak of a draft majority opinion penned by Justice Samuel Alito.
Catholic Churches and pro-life pregnancy clinics have been targeted in the wake of the leak.
Pro-abortion protesters in Washington, D.C. and other cities have crashed Sunday mass dressed in costumes from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. Some parishes, such as St. John’s on Capitol Hill, had called for extra police presence in preparation for disruption during services. Similarly, at least five crisis pregnancy centers were vandalized in the immediate aftermath of the leak, Fox News reported.
The memo noted that the DHS will also be monitoring for violence from the pro-life movement.
“Some racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists’ embrace of pro-life narratives may be linked to the perception of wanting to ‘save white children’ and ‘fight white genocide,'” the memo says.
While acknowledging that abortion proponents could also cause trouble, the memo conditioned that demonstrations and “use of strong language,” which might be labeled hate speech if used by right-wing groups, constitutes protected free expression and speech.
“The mere advocacy of political or social positions, political activism, use of strong rhetoric, or generalized philosophic embrace of violent tactics does not constitute domestic violent extremism or illegal activity and is constitutionally protected,” it read.
The memo did not mention the many doxxing attempts and intimidation tactics employed by leftist organizations throughout May to pressure the justices to reconsider their votes in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, which would strike down Roe. For example, pro-abortion group Ruth Sent Us published the addresses of the six conservative justices in preparation for an upcoming organized walk-by protest in front of their homes, which is illegal in Virginia where some of them reside.
Ruth Sent Us was recently permanently banned from TikTok, where it posted much of its content directing agitators to occupy the justices’ neighborhoods on multiple days.
The Department of Justice has so far refused to take enforcement action against the radical leftists who conducted demonstrations at the homes of the justices while they actively have Dobbs under consideration, our Andy McCarthy noted.
As for permissible “strong rhetoric,” Ruth Sent Us has gotten away with language on Twitter that could be deemed anti-religious bigotry, for instance, “Stuff your rosaries and your weaponized prayer. We will remain outraged after this weekend, so keep praying. We’ll be burning the Eucharist to show our disgust for the abuse Catholic Churches have condoned for centuries.”
Prior to the leak, the Biden administration and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas had made combatting domestic violent extremism, largely propagated by white supremacists a priority, calling it one of the greatest threats to the country.